The Faceless One
by Nukem999
Summary: My first Yugi story. A duel monster has come to life and is snatching Yugi's friends bodies, and he's after Yugi. But how can Yugi save his friends if he's not sure who's real and who's an imposter? Hints of YugiTea, JoeyMai mixed in.
1. Breakthrough

The Faceless One

Chapter 1: Breakthrough

Author: This story doesn't really take place in any special location, or saga in Yu-gi-oh. Let's say after Serenity has her eyes fixed, there. Anyway the card monster this story focuses on is fictional. It doesn't exist, I made him up, I own him, end of story. Now speaking of which……

----------

Thunder crackled upon a dark and stormy night, rain showered its countless gallons of ice cold water around the city. People tucked into their homes with a warm, cozy cover from the shivering showers. But, in the midst of this drenching darkness, 2 figures were standing firmly in the rain. The left figure raised a card up into the air.

"Summoned Skull, attack his life points" the left boy said.

The right figure grunted as a powerful monster attacked his body.

The teenager chuckled "Not bad but not good enough either, I activate monster reborn".

Another monster appeared, and attacked the left figure's Summoned Skull creature. The right voice then unleashed a magic card, using a powerful sacrifice card to remove the left figure's second monster.

"Now thanks to my card's special ability, I can automatically bring a new monster to the field" the right figure said.

The teen slowly removed a card. The left figure chuckled, flashing a glimpse of his long dark brown hair; a mature, adult voice smirked.

The right teen laughed "Won't do you any good Jack. You know how powerful my deck monsters are, I've get enough attack points in each beast to take down an army of blue eyes white dragons. So go ahead and pick your monster, no card you have is strong enough to defeat me".

The one called Jack grinned and revealed his new card, the left figure blinked in shock.

"What the hell?" the older teen said.

Jack laughed "Bet you haven't seen one of THESE in action, have you Drake? I think it's high time you did; now you'll see why they call him the unlucky monster. I summon Infectosect, in attack mode".

Jack activated his monster card, the creature named Infectosect revealed his ghastly appearance.

ZAP!

A colossal bolt of lighting sliced across the field, both duelists remain unaffected by the storm. The chilling rain, the booming thunder, and the powerful lighting bolts, none of these things seem to faze the duelists in any way. The lighting crackled its powerful energies directly into Jack dueling disc. Circuitry and energy flashed as Jack screamed, the disc was sparking like a fire cracker. The Infectosect card monster started to growl in pain.

Drake blinked "What the hell is going on here?".

Lighting struck Jack's disc again.

The young teen screamed "AHHH something's wrong, I can't stop it, I can't stop it, and I can't GRAHHHH".

The 3rd and final bolt of lighting struck the dueling disc in Jack's hand, and instantly destroyed it. A small explosion of flashing white light stunned Drake into blindness. Now there were 3 figures, 2 duelists, and a very strange, dark, looking……thing.

An inhuman thing……

----------

The bright shining sun flashed its gorgeous rays across the beautiful blue orb called Earth. School bells clanged loudly as a local school's students erupt from the doorways, spilling forth hundred of relieved students. Of the many students amidst the mountains and mountains worth of crowds there was a boy, a boy closely followed by 3 other people. The boy's name was Yugi, and the people behind him were none other then Joey, Tristan, and Tea.

"BOY does it feel good to be out of that joint, I'm starving" Tristan yawned.

Joey smiled "I'm with Tristan, being locked up in a school with nothing but books and boredom to comfort you, it can make a guy go bonkers, let's snag some chow guys".

Birds fluttered from emerald shaded trees. Fish splashed their silk blue fins in the gorgeous ocean blue waters, shimmering its natural beauty.

Yugi sighed happily "That sounds like a great idea Joey, let's do it. It's a beautiful day and I'd hate to just waste it, let's find an outdoor café or something".

Tea cheerfully nodded "Sounds perfect, count me in".

The boy with the blonde hair groaned as he snapped his fingers.

Yugi blinked "What's wrong Joey?".

The young duelist growled "Rats, I just realized that Serenity would probably love to come eat with us. But she's at the house and I'd have to run all the way back just to get her".

The spiky haired Yugi blinked as he spotted a shop not too far from them, a shop containing duel monster cards.

"Tell you what Joey, why don't you go pick up Serenity now, while me and Tea check out that card shop" Yugi said.

Joey blinked softly "You sure that's all right Yug, I mean it might take me a while".

Yugi nodded in return "Of course, Serenity is always welcome Joey, you know that".

Wheeler thanked his friend and quickly headed off.

"Great idea Yugi, but just out of curiosity, why do you want me to go with you into the card shop?" Tea asked.

Yugi shrugged "I just figured you wouldn't mind. I know I'd enjoy the company".

Those words caused the smallest but warmest of blushes to Tea's cheeks, the girl smiled bashfully and replied.

"Well……if you put it that way, sure why not?" Tea said.

Yugi and Tea then headed off into the card shop, leaving a slightly annoyed Tristan behind and alone.

"Uh guess I'll wait here" Tristan said.

A minute later a figure shoved past Tristan without even the slightest of notice. The man grunted as the figure continued to walk away from him.

Tristan growled "HEY JERK, why don't you watch where you're going, the least you could do is apologize, sheesh".

But the figure didn't respond, react, or even acknowledge a single thing Tristan said. The strange young man just continued walking farther away.

OOF!

A second being pushed past Tristan.

The boy growled "THAT'S IT, I think you owe me an apology right now Mr. Uh?".

Tristan's eyes widened as this time, he got a good look at who had shoved into him. The figure was tall, had dark brown short hair, a white coat, black leather straps, purple shirt, and an icy menacing stare. It seems Tristan had bumped into Seto Kaiba.

"You mind telling me what I owe a loser like you?" Kaiba said.

Tristan frowned "I'm not a loser Kaiba, I just got zero tolerance for jerks who think they can push anyone they want around".

Kaiba smirked "Funny, I think by now you'd be used to being pushed around, after all that's pretty much exactly what you deserve for running your big mouth off to someone like me".

Tristan rolled up his sleeves and angrily confronted Kaiba's face. Suddenly a figure was seen running up to Kaiba and Tristan, it was Mokuba.

"Come on Seto, we can't be late, we've got to get going now" Mokuba said.

Kaiba stared at Tristan and simply frowned before turning his back to him.

"Mokuba's right, I've got better things to do then to waste my time with amateurs" Kaiba said.

Mokuba turned to Tristan shrugging "Sorry Tristan but Seto and I are kinda busy. We've got to get to a conference right away".

That conference Mokuba spoke of was more important then Kaiba would begin to imagine. The Kaiba Corporation became surrounded by reporters, angry citizens, and a few policemen trying to calm down the raving mob. The focus of this mob all started last night, when 2 duelists were mysteriously injured during a duel. Apparently the storm had caused damage to one of the duelists dueling disc, and put one of the duelists in the hospital.

The second duelist however is missing, and the press took immediate action in attempting to discover the cause of this accident. Kaiba was notified instantly, seeing as how he was the one who created the new duel disc technology in the first place. The dark and irritated Kaiba sat in his swivel black leather chair, staring his bold dark blue eyes across his window view. A black suited man with shades and dark brown hair entered Kaiba's office.

"What is it now Walter? I thought I said I didn't want to be disturbed" Kaiba groaned.

The slick suited man replied "Yes sir, I know sir, but the reporters are still outside, they are demanding you come out and give a statement".

Kaiba groaned "Then remind those idiots that I already gave my only comments on this matter. Kaiba corp. is not responsible for that kid's disappearance, I don't care what they say".

Walter said "But sir, the young man in the hospital is unconscious and he hasn't waken up to give any new information".

"Not my problem. If this Jack Ferris kid was stupid enough to duel in the middle of a thunderstorm, then whatever happens to him is his own fault. I am ending this discussion now, IS THAT CLEAR?".

Walter gulped "Yes sir".

Seemingly apart from the rest of the world, a lone staggering boy wobbled his shivering legs towards a small house. The boy had pale blonde hair, dead eyes, a rain soaked red shirt, and a fried dueling disc. Fried sneakers clop there shredded remains across the sidewalk up to the house's front door. The boy bonked his bobbing head onto the wood. An older man appeared, sporting big purple eyes, and a massive grey beard. It was Yugi's grandpa.

"Yes, uh can I help you?" Grandpa Moto asked.

Grandpa Moto gasped at sight of the young boy, he looked tired, drenched, dead, and completely devoid of energy.

The man sighed "My goodness what happened to you my boy? Please come in side, I've got some warm tea all prepared".

Grandpa Moto allowed the young man to enter his little house.

"You sit right there, I'll be right back" Grandpa said.

Just as the old man turned his back, the boy stood straight up and smiled.

----------

To be continued……


	2. Strange Behavior

Strange Behavior

The weary aged eyes of Grandpa Moto slowly reawakened; the whole world seemed dizzy and dark. The man groaned as he stood upon his feet. Beside the old man was a younger one, the one half the town was looking for, Jack Ferris. However Jack seemed completely unconscious and devoid of energy, simply lying face down on the floor in a puddle of his own freshly gurgled drool. Grandpa Moto's purple eyes had blinked into a blacker color.

The old man hummed to himself as he examined his hands, as if inspecting his own body. Moto then approached a mirror and simply stared into it. Clearly something strange had happened to him but what? A flyer fluttered from Grandpa Moto's pocket, he picked it up and examined it. With a strange grin on his face, the elderly man grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something down. Grandpa Moto then headed out to the location on the flyer.

Grandpa Moto groaned "Must……find……museum".

Serenity smiled cheerfully "Thanks for picking me up again Joey, I really appreciate it".

Joey smirked and nodded to her "Hey what are big brothers for? It'll be great to just kick back and relax for a change, not have to worry about any evil monsters or bad guys trying to take over the world and stuff".

The blonde boy continued to walk beside his lovely young sister, heading back to find Tristan and the others. Suddenly a lurching figure appeared.

"GAH" Joey screamed.

Joey leapt back out of shock, soon realizing he had bumped into Grandpa Moto.

The boy groaned "Oh it's just you Mr. Moto, SHEESH please don't do that again. I nearly had a heart attack there".

But the old man seemed completely oblivious to anything Joey said or did. Grandpa Moto's eyes seemed lost in a blurry daze of blankness, devoid of life, soul, or emotions.

Joey blinked oddly "Eh, you okay there sir? Is like something wrong?".

The old man refused to answer the boy's question. Serenity looked to the man's face and gently touched his hands; she looked into his lost eyes.

"Mr. Moto don't you recognize us? It's Joey and Serenity Wheeler. Sir? Joey I think he's sick or something, we should get him to a hospital" Serenity said.

Serenity's touch suddenly triggered something within the old man's eyes, Grandpa Moto's brain nerves flashed to vibrant life.

"So sweet" the man uttered.

Grandpa Moto suddenly rapidly drooled; Grandpa Moto out stretched his hands and actually fondled Serenity's breasts.

The girl blushed and screamed "HEY CUT THAT OUT".

"WATCH IT, keep your hands to yourself peeping pops" Joey shouted.

Bulging pupils flashed as a painful realization stung the old man's brain like a knife; he sweated furiously before regaining his full composure. Joey and Serenity blinked as the old man simply nodded to the both of them, and just walked off.

"If dat ain't the strangest thing I ever saw then I don't know what is" Joey said.

The brother and sister watched the old man wander off wearily.

Serenity blinked "Joey? Are you sure Yugi's grandpa is going to be all right?".

Joey didn't answer though, truth be told the boy didn't know if he was or wasn't.

"I think we better go talk to Yugi Serenity" Joey said.

----------

The clomping shoes of the elderly man stumbled upon the stone steps of the museum, sweat and dizziness beginning to infect his weary nerves. Something odd was drawing Grandpa Moto to the museum, and ironically enough, it was also killing him at the same time. The man pushed through the museum doors and entered the building. Sweat dripped off the aching veins that pulsated sickly around Grandpa Moto's head, his eyes dizzying.

The statues, paintings, and countless artifacts surrounding the old man seemed beyond his logic. The man had come here for something, but it wasn't for the art.

"Must……find……ugh……sweet" Grandpa said.

For the longest while, Moto stood there almost statue like himself, a few people walked by and stared at him but did nothing. Hollow purple eyes observed the people as they passed him by, but still he stood there silently.

"And this is one of our most prized possessions" a female voice said.

The veins on Moto's forehead bulged sickeningly, the aging body turned his directions towards the sound of that voice. There was something in that voice that had disturbed the eerie stillness inside the old man's body, and it was drawing him towards the source of that voice. Grandpa Moto soon found himself leering his aching orbs at the sight of a beautiful dark woman. A woman that seemed to be the source of his strange, alien like desires.

The woman had tanned skin, black hair, a white robe, and a golden necklace around her slender neck. Ishizu Ishtar was the name of this woman. She was the curator of this museum, and currently showing 2 art lovers an Egyptian piece. In the deepest, darkest, bowels of Moto's mind, Ishizu had set off a burning urge the likes of which he hadn't felt in years.

Ishizu smiled "Thank you very much, please enjoy the museum my friends".

The people left Ishizu and ventured off to see the rest of the museum, leaving the woman completely alone. Wrinkled fingers shook as Grandpa Moto approached Ishizu, his body trembling from some kind of inner sickness. Slowly Ishizu turned to see the old man approach her.

The woman blinked "Sir? Are you all right?".

Grandpa Moto just gurgled an illogical response and continued to go closer, his hands outstretching towards Ishizu.

"Look sir if you need help I can get you some, I just" Ishizu suddenly stopped.

Both the woman and the old man turned to see people entering.

A blonde boy groaned "I swear to ya Yug, I saw your grandpa walk right in here".

Ishizu gasped as she recognized that voice, a golden flash suddenly emanated from her Millennium necklace. A vision flashed before the woman's eyes.

"Oh my god……you……your not" Ishizu started in horror.

The old man growled as he leapt upon her and opened his jaws, black tentacles and snapping claws burst from his lips.

"AHHH" Ishizu half screamed.

The gang blinked as they too heard the half muffled shriek of a woman, but could not find anyone in sight.

Yugi blinked "Hello, is anyone out there? If you're in trouble uh scream twice".

Minutes pass and no additional screams followed, the rest of the group shrugged and walked off.

"That's funny, I could have sworn I saw your grandpa walk in here" Joey said.

Tea shuddered "Well he's not here and frankly I don't blame him, these places always give me the creeps".

With that in mind, the group headed out of the museum. Unaware that if they had simply walked up a few more inches, they would have seen a pair of struggling, kicking legs poking out from behind a statue. Ishizu's muffled screams could barely be heard. The woman shrieked, screamed, shouted, but only muffled, enraged sounds came from her blocked lips. The struggle with her mysterious attack however soon ended, Ishizu suddenly became silent.

Ishizu's legs dropped and her smothered screams ceased, a loud THUMP like sound was heard. A few museum security guards rushed out to find Ishizu's legs laying lifelessly on the ground.

"Alert, we have 2 people down repeat, 2 people down" the guard said.

The men went behind the statue and gasped a disgusted face at what they saw. Ishizu was lying on the ground lifelessly, mouth to mouth with an old man who also appeared lifeless. The guards removed the old man and gently tapped his face.

"Hey old timer come on, wake up" the guard said.

Grandpa Moto's face was completely blank, eyes swirled an empty shell like stare. The old man's lips dripped out globs of drool over the guard's hands.

The guard groaned "Awe YUCK man, get this old guy off me".

"Get the old man to the hospital STAT. Now you two, get the first aid kit, we've got to make sure that old guy didn't give her a virus or something" the head guard said.

As soon as the guard unlocked the first aid kit, the young woman suddenly jolted up off the ground. The dark woman's eyes wide and coal black as she stared curiously at the guards. The guards screamed, being taken off guard by the woman's rapid recovery.

The head guard coughed "Uh Miss Ishtar is everything all right? We found you passed out behind this statue, we also found an old man lying on top of you".

Ishizu blinked strangely at the guard, she flexed her digits in front of her eyes curiously.

"Oh……is that so?" Ishizu asked.

The guard blinked "Why yes it is ma'am, you must have blacked out over there. Or did the old man try to attack you? Would you like to press charges? We can have him arrested" the guard asked.

But Ishizu simply continued staring at her hands, almost mesmerized by them. The dark woman suddenly stared the guard and regained her composure, she looked at the guard almost cryptically.

"What do you mean press, press clothes, is that what you mean?" Ishizu asked.

The guard laughed quietly and patted the woman's back politely.

"Look you've been through a traumatic experience, why don't you go outside, get some fresh air, and we'll take care of this" the guard said.

The strange woman simply nodded, seemingly lost in her own little world as she exited the museum. The woman stopped half way on the steps as she laid her dark eyes upon the world, the sky literally bursting above her, people bustling around her.

Ishizu grinned coldly "I think I'm going to like it here".

----------

The gang continued to walk and talk as they left the museum, very confused at the odd behavior of Grandpa Moto.

Yugi blinked "That is strange Joey; grandpa's not the kind of person to ignore a familiar face".

Joey frowned "I know, dats what got me and Serenity worried about him. He was acting completely different, almost like he wasn't himself".

"Well if he's not in the museum then where else could he be?" Tea asked.

Serenity replied "Is it possible he was sick or something? He didn't look so good when we saw him".

"Maybe, but whatever it is I got a bad feeling about it, that's for sure" Joey said.

The spiky haired Yugi scratched his chin softly; something about this did seem very peculiar indeed. The boy's darker half suddenly spoke to him.

Yami said "Perhaps there is more to this problem then we know Yugi".

Yugi replied "You think so? Could grandpa be in that much danger?".

The dark half hummed "Hmmmm, it's hard to say. I don't sense anything dark or mystical around us, so it's certainly nothing magical as far as I can see. But that doesn't mean something else isn't at work. I suggest we go back home, perhaps your grandfather is sick and decided to get some rest".

The boy nodded to his Egyptian soul mate, trusting in both his words and his wisdom. Yugi turned to his friends with the deepest looks of concern in his young purple eyes.

"Guys, I think I better go home and see if everything is all right with my grandpa. If he was sick, he'd go home right away to sleep it off. I'll be back soon as I can" Yugi said.

Joey shook his head "No way Yug. Were going with you, if something spooky is going on then were gonna be there to help you out".

Tea added "Joey's right, sick or not we stick together and help each other out no matter what".

Yugi smiled "Thanks guys, I always know I can count on you".

Tristan replied "Of course, what are friends for? So then, what are we waiting for? Let's go".

The gang quickly headed off back to Yugi's home, unaware that the real danger behind Yugi's grandfather and the disappearance of Jack was but a few feet away from them. The beautiful Ishizu grinned as she walked into the heart of the city. The woman's eyes darted around her surroundings constantly. It was as if this woman had been born mere seconds ago, and was totally fascinated and enchanted by the marvelous world around her.

Cars, planes, cell phones, humans, dogs, traffic lights, everything was a miracle of wonder to Ishizu's eyes. So what if a few people stared at her, Ishizu was too entranced by the world of steel and science. Out of the many shops that passed by the woman's eyes, one in particular caught her interest. The store was in fact a cyber parlor, a hang out for internet users and computer experts. Ishizu curiously entered the parlor and looked around.

"Interesting" the woman thought.

Young teenagers were prattling their fingers into crackling keys on a computer keyboard, their eyes fixated on the glowing monitors. A sign posted on the wall said "Help yourself to any open computers". Ishizu blinked and noticed an empty spot; she made her way towards the computer and sat down before it. However the computer itself appeared foreign to the young woman's eyes, she stared it at as if in a daze.

Ishizu raised her hand and suddenly black wires sprouted from her wrist; they jammed their vile plugs into the computer screen. The dark woman smiled a wicked grin.

Ishizu said "Computer, show me everything there is to know about the human brain".

----------

To be continued……


	3. Waiter! There's a fly in my body

Waiter! There's a bug in my body

Flashing police lights beamed across a crowded mob, poking and peeking their heads out to see what the fuss was all about. Officer shoved the people away, waving their batons, removing evidence items in and out of the locked down house. Suddenly Yugi and his friends arrived to the crime scene.

"This can't be good" Joey said.

"What are all these cops doing here?" Yugi asked.

Yellow "do not cross" police lines circled Yugi's grandfather's little house. Bouncing wheels clicked on Yugi's front steps, a stretcher was being pulled out with a body under a white sheet.

"GRANDPA" Yugi screamed as he raced to the stretcher.

Cops gasped as the boy shoved past them frantically, Yugi immediately removed the stretcher's sheet and gasped.

"Hey wait a minute, your not my grandpa" Yugi exclaimed.

The person on the stretcher was a young, blonde haired boy; eyes were lost in a wide, white eyed gaze. Yugi groaned in disgust at the sight of drool dribbling down the boy's gaping lips. The officers quickly covered the boy back up and placed him in the ambulance.

"Hey kid, what do you think you're doing here?" someone shouted.

The boy turned to a towering officer with a meek, weak smile.

"Uh I happen to live here sir, with my grandpa that is, I just came to see if he was all right or if something happened to him if you don't mind" Yugi said.

The cop nodded and allowed the boy to examine the house. Joey, Tea and the others entered the house, following their friend. The gang searched the house and questioned the officers, but ended up finding no signs of Grandpa Moto anywhere.

"Hey Yugi, who was that kid they pulled out on the stretcher?" Joey asked.

Tea blinked "I hope he's going to be all right, he looked pretty sick. Besides, he might have seen Yugi's grandpa you guys".

The question had peeked both Yugi and Yami's inquisitive minds, they decided it would be best if they found out more.

Yugi asked the nearest officer "Excuse me, but who was that kid that got sent to the hospital? Did he break in and attack my grandpa or something?".

The cop coughed "If he did then I'd say your grandpa got the better of him. That kid was Jack Ferris, the duelist who disappeared during that thunder storm. Were not sure how he ended up at your grand father's, we haven't found signs of him or any kind of a struggle. We suspect Jack may have been injured and came here to try and find some help. But even if your grandpa did let him in, it still doesn't explain how he wound up brain dead".

The gang blinked blankly at the cops' bizarre choice of words. The officer groaned and rubbed his face sorely, realizing he shouldn't have said that.

"Brain dead? What do you mean by brain dead?" Tristan asked.

The cop was about to dodge the question, but a sweet, innocent looking Tea begged him, the young girl smirked as her young, curved arms wrapped around the cops forearm.

"Please tell us, we've got to know, for our friend's sake" Tea said.

The cop groaned "Oh all right, just keep this to yourselves. We don't need to start a panic here. The doctors say that the Ferris kid was completely comatose, when we found him; he was lying down face floor on the ground.

The kid's face was lying in a pool of drool. We don't know what happened to him or who did it, it doesn't make any sense. The storm MAY have did it.

But even if that was true, that wouldn't explain why his brain was completely drained of all it's juices. It's like something sucked the smarts right out of him".

As the officer returned to his duties, dread and fear filled the hearts of Yugi and his friends. Something definitely wasn't right.

Yugi said "This is getting really weird you guys, I don't have a clue where my grandpa is and I'm getting more worried by the minute".

"You said it Yug. Something sure stinks around here, and for once it's not me" Joey laughed.

The gang glared angrily at Joey.

"Uh……sorry, bad time for a joke" Joey replied.

Tristan asked "So what do we do next, file a missing person's report?".

"I say we should start looking for him right away. Don't you worry Yugi, were gonna help you find him no matter what" Tea said.

"Dats right, don't even sweat it buddy. With all of us looking together there's no way we can miss him" Joey added.

Yugi sighed "Thanks you guys, but it's no use. Even if we did start looking we'd still end up lost, I mean think about it, we don't have a clue where he could be. He could be anywhere in the city and we wouldn't know where to start".

Serenity softly said "Uh guys, I think you should see this".

The young girl pointed to a small television set inside Yugi's kitchen, the police had turned it on due to an emergency news report. The gang huddled by the TV and listened to the reporter.

"_This is Dan Omaha reporting live from the Egyptian museum with a breaking news story. Museum curator and owner Ishizu Ishtar has been kidnapped, and police need any information available on this man"_

A picture of Grandpa Moto was placed on the TV screen, the gang gasped.

Yugi gasped "HEY, that's my grandpa".

"_Museum security reports indicate that this unidentified old man, surprised and attacked Ms. Ishtar. He was found with no identification on him of any kind. The guards say Ms. Ishtar seemed fine and was unharmed from the attack, but after they arrested the subject, Ms. Ishtar seemed to have vanished. _

_Even stranger and sketchier comments come from the old man's condition. The man was found comatose on top of Ms. Ishtar in the museum. _

_There is no explanation why he would be comatose or what could have caused this. Doctors state that his mind has somehow been completely wiped clean of any intelligence, the cause of that is also unknown"._

Yugi, Teaea, Tristan, Joey, and Serenity all stared at each other at once with a complete, blank, and baffled stare. The gang quickly bolted off to the museum and the hospital, where they may hope to finally learn some answers.

----------

"AHHH she's a monster, run for your lives" a man screamed

The man ran past Yugi shoving everything and everyone in front of him away. Several other people started to scream and panic, running farther and farther from the direction Yugi and his friends were heading to.

Joey blinked "What's with all the screaming?".

Tea shook her head "I don't know Joey, I think they said something about a monster".

A lone figure staggering very weakly, approached the small group. Yugi gasped as he saw it was Ishizu. The young woman was staring in a bewildered daze of confusion, lost in a world of nothingness and dizziness.

"I don't believe it, look who it is you guys, it's Ishizu" Yugi said.

The dark shadow of Yami immediately warned Yugi.

"Hold on there Yugi, something's not right here" Yami said.

The boy was perplexed by his spirit's warning.

"What do you mean Yami?" Yugi asked.

The last time they had met, Ishizu had become good friends with Yugi and Yami. But something about the dark woman deeply disturbed the ancient spirit of the pharaoh. An odd force surrounded Ishizu, a dark energy if you will, something that Yami was unable to comprehend.

"Hello there Ishizu, it's good to see you again" Yugi said calmly.

Tea added "We were worried what happened to you after what they said on the news, I hope you and Yugi's grandpa are all right miss".

Ishizu blinked at the young girl's statement, the woman seemed almost child like with her peculiar staring.

"Yugi? Who is this Yugi?" the woman asked.

The spiky haired boy sweat dropped "Uh that's me Ishizu, don't you remember? Me, Kaiba, fighting your brother Merrick?".

No matter how much the boy tried, Ishizu's mind seemed devoid of all her memories. It was this time Tristan noticed Ishizu's dress was stained with coffee and glass.

"Excuse me lady, but do you mind telling me why you got coffee and glass all over your outfit?" Tristan asked.

The woman frowned "Caaa, ca, ca, coffee?".

Yugi blinked "That smells like chestnut coffee, that's what they usually serve at the cyber café 1 block from here".

Tea gasped "Hey wait a minute, weren't those people who ran past us were all cyber nerds?".

Joey scratched his blonde head "So what your saying is, she's the monster?".

Ishizu groaned as her legs weakly gave out, Yugi gasped as he caught the falling woman.

"WHOA, did I say something wrong?" Joey exclaimed.

The young duelist cradled the limp woman in his small arms, barely holding up her weight.

Yami frowned "She's sick Yugi, she's very sick. I think it would be wise to get her to a hospital before her condition worsens".

Yugi pleaded to Yami "But the police will be looking for her there, it's not safe".

"True, but if she truly did frighten those people at the café by herself, then perhaps there's something more wrong with her then we know" Yami said.

Despite how grim things were looking, Yugi knew that Yami was right. Ishizu has never been the type to scare the living day lights out of people. Besides, if they don't do something fast she might die and it would be their fault.

"Guys we have to get her to a hospital, pronto" Yugi said firmly.

Just as the others started to help Ishizu get back on her feet, a whirling let of wheels suddenly skidded to a screeching halt.

"Well, well, I can see you guys certainly have your hands full today" a female voice said.

Joey turned to see the familiar sight of ruby red lips, golden blonde curls, and a sexy pair of legs dressed in a sleek purple skirt and leather jacket.

"Hey Mai, nice for you to drop by, your just in time to play rescue" Joey said with a warm grin.

While Joey and Yugi's friends tired to explain their predicament to Mai, something inside of Ishizu started to stir. The dark skinned woman's dreary eyes were now focused on the blonde biker girl.

"So sweet" Ishizu said.

Ishizu's voice had changed, she was now speaking in a completely dark and different tone, she snarled towards Mai.

"WHOA down there lady, cool it. Mai Valentine is a friend" Tristan said.

Yugi and Tristan gasped as they tried desperately to hold Ishizu back, she had become savagely wild. The dark woman was pulling, squirming, screaming against the boys that held her back, sights locked directly at Mai.

"Ishizu please calm down, were here to help you, AH Tristan don't let go" Yugi pleaded.

Mai blinked curiously "This is the lady you want me to help? She looks like she needs a straight jacket, not a ride".

Ishizu's eyes boiled to a pitch black color. With little difficulty, the Egyptian woman hurled Yugi and Tristan right off. Mai gasped as she stepped back, feeling a strange tinge of fear creeping under her soft skin.

Joey frowned "Something's wrong about this Yug, something is VERY wrong".

An ear piercing scream wailed from Ishizu's jaws, her lips widening larger to enhance the scream's power.

"AHHHHH oh my god guys, look at her neck" Tea shrieked.

Disgusting lumps started to bulge from Ishizu's neck; the lumps bulged and swirled around her neck. It appeared that some sort of life form was under the skin of Ishizu's neck, and it was now trying to break free. Drool dribbled from the woman's gargled screams, the lumps climbing up her neck and into her cheek bones. Some sort of vile and twisted creature was about to emerge from Ishizu's body. Mai's legs froze as if they were made of frozen ice.

Black talon like claws crawl outside of the lips of the trembling woman. Another set of claws emerges from the jaws, then a black head. The creature's skin was completely dark; traces of repulsively fowl smelling slime coated the monster's bug like body. More and more tiny claw equipped arms and legs crawled from Ishizu's mouth. Like watching an alien burst out of someone's stomach, the creature was totally disgusting.

Veins bulged their thick vessels across Ishizu's neck, the monster's sick, black, caterpillar like body had been completely revealed. Ishizu's body collapsed to the ground instantly.

"EEEEEEW" the gang groaned in disgust.

Mai gasped "That has got to be the most disgusting, sickening, puke inducing scene I have ever seen".

The monster was a large, semi-man sized black caterpillar like creature. Two large black claws sat on the bug's sides as the primary arms, while his sides were littered with even smaller stem like arms. A beady, oval shaped head sat on top of the creature's long black head, blinking curiously.

Its eyes were blood red, and its razor sharp fangs slobbered globs of that same fowl green slime that coated his body. The blonde haired Joey shivered in disgust.

"DUDE seriously, that is one nasty looking bug. He makes Weevil Underwood look like a freaking super model" Joey said.

A terrified Tea huddled nervously behind Yugi, her bare knees clicking together. The girl was completely paralyzed with fear.

"Guys, I think it's time to go, NOW" Tea said.

"What the hell is that thing?" Tristan exclaimed.

Yugi gulped "I don't know and frankly after seeing what it did to Ishizu, I don't want to know".

The black insect simply bobbed it's curious, black scaly head around as it examined its new surroundings. Ishizu's body continued to lay limp and lifeless. Suddenly the black bug turned its blood red eyes towards Mai.

The blonde biker woman gulped "What?".

A sinister smiled painted the monster's drooling jaws of green slime. The hideous insect creature, covered in fresh heated saliva, and shimmering charcoal black colored shells, smiled directly at Mai.

"So sweet" the bug said.

The creature then leapt right at Mai.

"AIIEEEEE" Mai screamed.

Joey cried out "MAI! NO".

The woman ran to her motorcycle and quickly strapped on her helmet. Further screams erupt from Mai's voice as the bug attacked her, chomping his claws into the girl's helmet. Joey quickly rushed towards Mai. The force of the attacking insect caused Mai to fall off from her bike, the beast removed her helmet.

"You touch one hair on her head, and I swear I'll you ACK" Joey gagged.

The black insect had snared Joey's throat in his long double pointed tail, Joey's throat was being squeezed by the pincher's crushing force. Mai immediately went to help the poor boy.

"GO, NOW" Joey screamed.

Joey wanted Mai to save herself, before it was too late. Mai refused at first but the tighter and tighter Joey's neck was being crushed, she couldn't stand to let him die over her. Valentine ran into the street and pumped her legs as fast as she could. The bug monster snarled and tossed Joey away like a toy, he crashed right into Yugi and Tea.

"Don't worry I got him UGH" Tristan said.

Tristan raced after the bug, pumping his legs at full speed, except he forgot about Mai's bike. Tristan easily tripped over it and fell right to the ground.

The bug screeched into the air "VALENTINE".

----------

To be continued……


	4. Mai Is Mine

Mai is mine!

Author: Hey, I'm going on vacation starting Friday, the 19th and this will be my last update to this story until I get back, on the 27th. Sorry about the delay and hope you guys are enjoying te story so far, anyways, enjoy!

----------

ROAR!

The snapping, shrilling cry of a voracious monster pierced the once peaceful calmness of the afternoon. Black beetle pincher jaws dribbled globs of toxic, fowl smelling slime soaked saliva. The beautiful face of Mai Valentine had melted into a pale puddle of peril and terror. In just less then 5 minutes, a hideous insect like creature erupted from inside Ishizu's body, and outside of her mouth. Now the beast had its sights set on Mai.

"MAI RUN FOR YOUR LIFE NOW" Joey screamed.

Without a second warning, the young woman turned her black heels the opposite way and ran like the wind. The black insect snarled and immediately leapt after the fleeing Mai.

"Hey you leave her alone bug breath" Yugi said.

The monster snarled and turned his face towards Yugi; the boy froze with fear.

"Gulp" Yugi said.

Black skeleton like claw fingers wrapped around Yugi's face, the creature lifted the boy right off the ground. Black sneakers and thin trembling blue pants legs wiggled helplessly.

Tea screamed "You put him down RIGHT NOW".

"RAHHHH" the bug snarled back.

A violent slam hurled Yugi right into Tea and knocked both off their feet. The bug then turned tail literally, and click clacked his multiple legs in Mai's direction. The young boy Joey looked to his friends, immediately checking if they were safe.

"Guys are you okay? Just hold up, I'll call a cop over here" Joey said.

"Wait Joey, don't worry about that. We'll be fine for the time being. Right now, you've got to go help Mai. There's no telling what that thing will do if it catches up with her, so go NOW and help her first" Yugi said.

Joey bit his lip and nodded to his friend.

----------

Meanwhile……

Mai's heart raced even faster then her legs could pump, sweat dribbled off the golden locks of hair that bounced around as she ran. Such fear, such terror was in those shaded, cat like eyes of hers. After a few minutes of running, Mai hid in an alleyway to catch her breath.

"Holy hell……what in the world is that thing? I've never seen anything like that before" Mai panted.

"MAI, MAI, MAI" Joey screamed.

"Huh? Is that……Joey's voice?" Mai said.

The young woman turned her head towards the calling voice, Joey was seen running and screaming for her.

Joey shouted "Don't stop, DON'T STOP. Dat thing is hot on your tail, you gotta go NOW",

The flash of black flesh, and razor sharp fangs instantly jolted the scream of fear inside Mai's terrified heart. The vicious monster attacked her once again. Rapid clicking legs raced after Mai's pumping boots, her heart raced as the bug's speed increased every time she looked at it. A man reading a newspaper suddenly stumbles into Mai, who quickly shoves past him. The man angrily yells at the woman, adjusting his glasses back to his newspaper.

RRIIPP!

The black beetle beast sliced through the man's paper and violently shoved him down with a venomous snarl. Joey grunted as his shot legs began to tire and ache. The monster continued to chase Mai no matter where she went, or no matter what got in the beast's way. Hundreds of people screamed and leapt out of the way.

Joey growled "I don't know what bug boy wants with Mai, but I ain't letting him put one slimy claw on her head".

The blonde boy leapt at the monster and tackled the creature to the ground.

"HA, I got ya you overgrown cockroach" Joey proudly said.

Hatred boiled upon the black bug's twisted face. The teenager was quickly becoming a major annoyance; the bug growled and flexed his long tail. The stinger like appendage wrapped around Joey's neck and tightly crushed around it. Joey's hands weakly grabbed at his throat, the suffocation quickly settling in on his crushing lungs from the bug's tail.

CLUNK!

The bug growled as a metallic object struck its beetle armored skull. Joey's bulging eyes managed to turn, weakly spotting Mai holding a soda can in her hand.

Mai scowled "Put him down or I swear to god you'll choke on this can".

Grinning mischievous fangs, the black bug responded with Mai's demands and slowly released Joey the ground. The young woman sighed and slowly started to drop the can. At that very instant, the monstrous bug rushed at Mai at top speed. Joey screamed and desperately grabbed onto the back of the beetle's body.

Mai, Joey, and the bug were chased right down into the middle of a busy street. A cab driver honked loudly as he slammed on the brakes.

Joey gulped "Oh CRAAAAAP".

CRASH!!!

In a series of white blinding seconds, it was all over. Mai's purple eyes slowly opened to see an ocean of twisted metal and congested cars. The cab had swerved out of the way and struck another car right on it's side. The force caused several other cars to crash and collide all around Mai and Joey. The insect was no where to be found, Mai was just thankful she was alive. Angry drivers and police officers started to arrive at the crash scene.

Blonde curls rested on the hot asphalt of the road, as Mai was resting her head on the hot road.

"Thank you god……I owe you one, big time. I just hope Joey's okay too, I could care less about that beetle" Mai said.

The biker woman looked around blankly, unable to locate the monstrous insect.

Mai shook her head "Freak, what the hell did that thing want from me anyway?".

A fallen motorcycle loudly clanked as rustling movement could be heard; black lined armor scales and clicking claws pried the motorcycle away. Mai's purple eyes widened in fear as she turned around slowly, her ruby red lips opening to scream.

The creature grinned "I want your BRAIN".

The black bug engulfed Mai's face like a brain sucking alien from another world. Mai's golden locks, purple eyes, and red lips, totally trapped under the fowl beast's bug body. Screams were muffled as Mai squirmed frantically, unable to shake him off. The bug wrapped his clawed legs and hands around Mai's head, despite the woman's panicking. Cracking bones distorted the shape and size of the creature, almost as if it were shrinking.

The bug was now literally forcing its body into Mai's mouth, and inside her own body. Bulges surge down Mai's neck and forehead, the creature was now inside Mai's body. The girl's eyes flashed wide open. Mai slowly sat up off the ground, she idly stared at her hands before smiling.

"Oooooh yes, you are sweet, sweet indeed my little Valentine" the creature said from within Mai's body.

"MAI, Mai, hey Mai are you there? Come on guys we've got to find her" Joey shouted.

The body snatcher smirked as he lay down and played possum. Joey and his friends inevitably found Mai's body laying there, supposedly unconscious.

Yugi frowned "Yami was right, things are really starting to get weird. I say we get Mai and Ishizu to the hospital right away, that way we can try and figure out what's wrong with them and my grandpa".

Eager to save his fallen female friend, Joey picked up Mai and exited the massive car pile up. The policemen were far too busy to notice a small group of kids exiting the scene, especially with so much damage. Yugi was hopeful he could save Mai, and hopefully cure the others of this strange, mysterious brain virus. But something was nagging Yugi's other half, Yami in the back of his mind. Something was telling Yami that darkness was still upon them.

And the source of this invisible darkness, lied squarely in the minds of the victims. Unknown to young Wheeler or any of his friends, they were doing exactly what the insect invader wanted. Mai's body secretly smirked as it entered the hospital doors, eagerly awaiting the next opportunity to plan its next strike.

"And this is only the beginning" Mai chuckled.

----------

To be continued……


	5. Under Your Skin

Under your skin

White suited doctors and nurses rushed to the flooding glass doors of the bustling hospital. Yugi, Tea, Joey entered with their eyes a blaze at swarms of medical men and women, running around left and right. It had been a mere 10 minutes since they had delivered Mai's body to the emergency room. The three friends sighed as they reluctantly continued waiting, waiting, and waiting, hoping to hear good news about Mai.

"If you just have a seat, the doctor will see you shortly" a brown haired nurse said.

Yugi and the others nodded before sitting down in the lobby. Joey sighed and rubbed his face, this was hitting him the hardest. So much fear and uncertainty in his young eyes, Joey didn't know what to do, he didn't know at all.

Tea said "Its okay Joey, Mai's going to be all right. She's a tough girl; she's gonna pull through this, trust me".

Joey smiled "I know, thanks Tea. I just wish I could have done more for her, you know? Maybe held onto that bug a little bit longer".

The spiky haired Yugi shook his magenta colored head; Yugi gently placed his hand on Joey's blue suited shoulder.

"It's not your fault Joey, don't think like that. There's nothing more any of us could have done. We have no idea what that thing was, or where it went, or if it did anything to Mai" Yugi said.

The friends nodded and continued sitting in silence. But deep inside young Yugi's thoughts, other problems were circulating. There was something about this insect creature that troubled Yami more then he was letting on. Neither Yugi nor Yami could have known what that creature was going to do, or where it had come from.

Or did they?

----------

In Yugi's mind……

Yugi blinked "What's wrong Yami?"

"There's something very strange going on here, and I believe everything we have been experiencing is connected" Yami said.

"You mean?" Yugi asked.

"Yes, everything. Your grandpa's disappearance, the panic at the café', Ishziu, and now Mai" Yami said nervously.

Yugi blinked "But I don't understand, we couldn't find that bug anywhere. It is possible he may have gotten smushed during the car crash".

Yami nodded "Possible, yes, but something tells me we haven't seen the last of this creature. It would be wise if I kept a close watch over things Yugi".

"All right" Yugi said.

"I sense a darkness lying in dormant, somewhere, near but far. And I have a feeling this darkness is going to show up again very soon" Yami said.

"Okay then, it's a good thing we sent Tristan to take Serenity home then. No sense putting everyone at risk" Yugi said.

----------

With that said, and the doctor approaching the small trio, Yami switched places with Yugi. The pharaoh flashed his purple eyes open wide, awaiting the doctor's news.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Greer, I'm Ms. Valentine's doctor" the man said.

Joey immediately asked "Give it to us straight doc, is Mai all right, is she okay?".

The small, frizzy brown and gray hair on the doctor's head twitched a bit, his response seemed quite hesitant.

"I think it would be best if you all came with me, there's something you have to see" Greer said.

Yugi and his friends followed Dr. Greer down the white hallway, passing dozens of mirrors reflecting sick and wounded patients. Along the passageway, Yugi gasped as he spotted 2 very familiar faces.

"That's Ishizu in there, and look, Yugi's grandfather" Yami said.

Next to them was a young boy, in a similar condition, right beside Mai. Joey, Tea, and Yugi gasped at seeing their friends and family lying there, heavily stocked with tubes, wires, and other medical equipment. Brain wave machines flashed signals on digital charts for each medical subject.

Joey asked "So what's the deal doc? What happened to Mai, she seemed all right to me".

The doctor chuckled "Well she is but then again……she isn't. I know this sounds strange, but there's a small problem".

The gang blinked confusedly at the doctor.

"Problem? What sort of problem are we talking about here doctor?" Yami asked.

Greer sighed "Well you see these machines attached to the patients are designed to read and measure their brain waves. Their used to isolate any possible spikes in the brain, and alert us of any abnormalities".

Yami simply listened and nodded.

Greer continued "Ms. Valentine's brain waves seem very unusual for a mere concussion, their too erratic to be a brain tumor. However, we found molecular traces of an unknown substance that seems to be linked to the previous patients. The Ferris boy, the old man, and Ms. Ishtar as well".

Joey blinked "Whoa, whoa, park the brain bus back a few feet. Are you saying there's something wacky going inside these guys' heads? Like not normal kind of wacky?".

"Well that's one way to put it but yes, something is seriously wrong. Mai's vitals read completely fine except for the brain waves. And while the others are seemingly calm, there mental states are in GRAVE danger, and I mean that in every sense of the word" Greer said.

"That is precisely why we were asked to help" a voice said from behind.

The trio turned around at that strangely familiar voice that spoke behind them, 2 shadows emerged from the hall. Yami blinked in surprise. It was none other then Professor Hawkins and his daughter, Rebecca Hawkins. The cute young genius in pigtails immediately rushed to Yami and hugged him tightly. The pharaoh turned beat red, gulping heavily.

Rebecca squealed "YUGI! It's so good to see my cute little Yugi again, have you missed me?".

Yami groaned "Uhhh yes, of course……uh Yugi this is your girlfriend not mine".

"GIVE ME A BREAK" Yugi screamed from inside.

Yami winced and rubbed his ear, recoiling from Yugi's embarrassed screams. Tea of course was angry as ever, pouting jealous glares at the overly gushing little genius girl.

Tea growled "AHEM! I think we were in the middle of something".

Joey asked "Yeah, what are you guys doing here? I thought you studied ancitology, not medicine".

"It's Egyptology Joey" Tea and Yami both said.

The blonde haired dullest laughed weakly and sweat dropped, hanging his head in humiliated defeat. Hawkins smiled warmly at seeing his old friends once again, but the old professor knew that this was quite a serious matter.

"The doctors asked me to come in after sending me samples of Mai's cat scans, along with scans from the other victims. I was hesitant at first being a total novice when it comes to modern medicine. But then Rebecca called me and told me about the strange incident at the cyber café'. So I flew on out here and assisted the doctors in anyway I can" Hawkins said.

Tea blinked "Wait a second, how do you know about the cyber café?".

Rebecca smirked "Because I was there silly, I saw the whole thing. When Ishizu did that psycho freak show and scared everyone off, I knew something was weird so I called up my dad. It's not every day a lady has wires coming out of her hands".

"WIRES?!?" Joey and Tea exclaimed in shock.

Hawkins smiled "Don't worry my friends, I'll explain it all in a moment. But right now I think it would be best if Rebecca took Mai down and performed a new cat scan".

Rebecca pouted "But DAD".

Hawkins shook his head "Now is not the time for reacquainting Rebecca, your computer skills could be crucial into discovering what's wrong with Mai's mind. And why her brain waves are so different from the others, please, try and understand the importance of this task".

The young computer whiz sighed and flipped out her lap top.

"Fine, I'll go downstairs and give her a quick scan. With my computer hooked up to the hospital's scanners, I should be able to find the problem in about a half hour" Rebecca said.

As nurses entered to move Mai downstairs for further studying by Rebecca, she couldn't help blowing a small kiss to Yami as she left. Yami simply sweat dropped and tried to ignore it. Teaea growled angrily, glaring at the little brat as she left.

"Uh Tea you all right there?" Joey asked.

"Joey……shut up" Tea snapped.

"Now if you all come with me Yugi, I think I can explain what happened to your grandfather and determine the source of all this trouble" Hawkins said.

Meanwhile……

Rapid pounding keys were already being hammered by Rebecca's rapid typing fingers, typing furiously on her computer lap top. Mai was placed on top of a table with several wires attached to her bare arms. The young Hawkins girl was trying to use her computer skills to enhance the hospital's CAT scan. If successful, Rebecca will be able to determine what's going on in Mai's head. Even though the young girl was still thinking about Yugi.

That is for the moment, until Rebecca realizes that the seemingly lifeless body of Mai Valentine was suddenly moving. That the blonde woman's arms and legs were slowly moving from their comatose like slumber. And finally, that Mai's once purple eyes now flashed wide open with shades of blood red instead.

Mai grinned "So sweet".

----------

To be continued……


	6. Bugs on the Brain

Bugs on the brain

Darkness drained over the tiny room, brief flickering neon lights flashed from the various devices in the dark, shadowy hospital room. Yugi and his friends sighed solemnly as they entered the room and sat in a row of dark brown chairs. A look of fear and concern painted the young teen's faces.

"I'll take it from here" Yugi softly said.

The young duelist switched places with Yami, and returned to his body as Greer was about to begin. Tristan silently waved as he re-entered the room.

"All right then, start the projector" Dr. Greer said, stifling a yawn.

A blinding flash of light beamed onto a drawn down projector, the image of a brain graph appeared. Yugi's face cringed a little, his innocent youthful features showing obvious discomfort at sight of the human brain, even if it was a graph. Tea looked to Yugi and displayed a similar disgusted face.

Dr. Greer sighed "Okay, what we have here is the basic human brain. The nerves, the lobes, and blah, blah, blah. You know the rest".

Joey and Tristan looked at each other blankly at the doctor's lazy, and overall drowsy like attitude.

Greer continued "Anyways, our computers have printed out brain scan sheets for all of these strange occurrences; this includes The Ferris boy, Mr. Moto, Ms. Ishtar, and Ms. Valentine. After comparing the scans, we've discovered something very well……weird".

The doctor clicked a small white button and changed slides, the gang gasped as they saw 3 very unusual brain charts. All of them were gray, soggy, deflated, and appeared to have been pressed or "shrunken" somehow. Tea's cheeks turned green.

"I think I'm gonna barf" the girl groaned.

"These are the charts from Ferris, Moto, and Ishtar. As you can see, something has drained the central processing lobes and siphoned a critically vital portion of neurological fluids from the cerebral cortex" Greer said.

Yugi and his friends just stared at him and scratched their heads.

The doctor groaned "GOD, don't they teach you kids anything school? Something sucked their brains dry of information".

Joey smiled "OOOOOH well why didn't you say so in the first place?".

Greer just rolled his eyes and smacked himself in the face, ruffling his dark brown hair in irritation.

Yugi curiously asked "Excuse me sir but, when you mean something _sucked_ the brains dry, you mean".

Greer nodded "Exactly. It's like some kind of organism just went inside and drained the brain of everything it had, like a sponge. Personality, memory, motor functions, it's like the brain was emptied out of everything that made the person who he or she was".

Tea blinked "Wait a minute, if there brains are empty then how can they still be alive? Shouldn't they be dead?".

Greer rubbed his hair nervously "Well……that's the odd thing. The brains are still functioning, it's like the engine's running but there's nobody behind the wheel. Right now there in some kind of comatose state, unable to wake up until we can derive some kind of cure".

Joey growled and clenched his chair tightly, scornful thoughts and fantasizes of a world without Mai suddenly burned into his aching skull. This nightmare was tearing the young boy apart on the inside. Yugi looked at his friend and sighed, such fear and concern in Joey's blue eyes.

"Doctor, what exactly is causing this, and there's anything we can do to help?" Yugi asked.

The doctor sighed and pressed the button again, changing the slides. Suddenly the new slide caused everyone to leap back from the screen in shock. Tristan and Joey's eyes were practically bursting out of their skulls.

"Not unless you can tell me what the hell that thing is" Dr. Greer said.

The next slide was of Mai's brain, and it had some sort of large, black, spider like blob stretching and expanding over it.

Tea gulped "Okay, now I'm DEFINITELY gonna throw up".

"What the heck is that thing?" Joey shouted.

Greer replied "This strange organism is what we believe to be causing the mind wipes, and as you can see, it's currently attached to Ms. Valentine's mind".

Joey turned white as a ghost.

Greer continued "It is my and Dr. Hawkins theory that somehow, this black organism somehow entered the victim's minds, manipulated their bodily functions, and siphoned off their memories to stay alive. After the brain is empty, the organism ejects and finds a new source of mental protein".

Tristan gasped "You mean to tell me this thing is a brain sucker? Like a _REAL_ brain sucker, just like they show in cheesy monster movies?"

"That's what it appears to be. The organism can only survive on brains, it's the only thing keeping the organism alive, and its metabolism must be so fast it requires a constant supply. During feeding, it can't vacate from its host body until the drain is complete" Greer said.

The spiky haired duelist scratched his chin; this was getting weirder and weirder by the minute. Something strange was going on, and Yugi and Yami both felt things were going to get worse before they were going to get better.

"I know I'm gonna regret asking this but (_gulp_) how long do these……feedings take?" Tea asked.

"Uh about 2 hours, 3 tops" Greer said.

WHAM!

In a flash of blinded rage, Joey rushed towards the doctor and slammed him up against the wall. Greer gasped as the blonde boy crushed his spine against the blurry, blinding light of the projection sheet.

"Joey" Tea called out.

"Hey chill out man" Tristan said.

"YA STINKING JERK! How the heck can you be so calm about this? If you know dat wacky thing is creeping around inside Mai's noggin, why don't you cut her open and dissect it off of her or something?" Joey screamed.

Geer coughed weakly "ACK I can't! The organism is moving too fast, any attempt to remove it could fatally disrupt Ms. Valentine's brain waves, she'd flat line in a second. I have to wait for Rebecca to get more data before I try anything, it's for Ms Valentine's safety, I swear".

Joey bit his lip and sighed as he released the doctor. Greer gasped for air as he rubbed his hands around his throat, Yugi and the others quickly helped Greer back to his feet.

"Joey man, you've got to calm down, were all worried bout Mai too you know" Tristan said.

Wheeler simply sighed and shoved his way outside of the room, a look of frustration and rage stained his young face. Yugi reached to pull Joey back.

"I'm going to see if Rebecca's done yet……see you guys later" Joey said.

"Oh Joey" Yugi said.

As the others tried to put their heads together to figure out how they could help, Joey was already on his way, storming towards Rebecca to see if she had any results. As the enraged duelist walked past various hospital rooms, Joey blinked as he noticed the door to Mai's room was open, number 336. Joey looked into the room and gasped in horror, it was completely empty!

Joey screamed "WHERE'S MAI?".

----------

The spunky young Rebecca continued to toil away at her computer, blonde pigtails tensing tightly as the girl's freckled face frowned with anger.

"Come on, work computer, I need to figure out what's wrong with Mai, and you showing me a stupid error 404 message every time I try isn't going to help anybody" Rebecca said.

The dazed, zombie like stare of Mai zeroed in on the feisty young computer hacker, Mai's faded red lips were licked, as if becoming hungry by staring at the young girl. Mai approached Rebecca with her arms outstretched like a cape about to enclose around the computer girl.

Rebecca turned and gasped "WHOA, Mai, you're awake! Well at least that's a good sign. I've been working on a way to figure out what IRK".

The girl's voice was violently silenced by Mai wrapping her fingers around Rebecca's throat. The Hawkins girl wheezed and gagged, her glasses filling up with choked tears as she tried to pull Mai's vice like grip off of her neck.

"ACK Mai (choke) what are you doing?" Rebecca pleaded.

"Ha, ha, just thought I'd drop by and get a little recharge" Mai said.

Rebecca gasped, that voice wasn't Mai's! The voice was dark, cold, and evil, like some sort of wicked monster. Mai squeezed tighter and tighter.

"Please OW Mai, you've gotta snap out of it" Rebecca said.

Mai laughed "Sure thing sweetie, but first, let's get to know each other better. Being a computer geek and all, I'm sure you're very smart".

Mai's peach colored cheeks widened as the woman seemed to be gagging on something as well, Rebecca gasped in horror.

"So you won't mind if I pick that juicy brain of yours" Mai said.

A loud, slushing like sound was gurgling inside Mai's lips, Rebecca was engulfed in a black shadow as she screamed for help.

"HEEELLLPPP" Rebecca screamed.

----------

Dust flew around Joey's blue pants as the speedy duelist skidded his shoes to a screeching halt outside Rebecca's door. The Wheeler boy shoved open the doors and immediately looked for Rebecca.

"Yo geek girl, you all right, I heard screaming and I……HOLY DUEL MONSTERS" Joey shouted.

Mai was twitching, her body barely standing up as her bare, slender shaped legs twitched from constant wobbling. Mai's body was shaking and making strange gurgling sounds as she slowly collapsed to the ground. Joey's jaw dropped down like a rock when he saw what was happening to Rebecca.

"What in the wide world of sports is THAT?" Joey said.

Rebecca's white stocking legs and little black shoes were kicking and squirming like she had ants crawling up her skirt. The girl was on the ground, mumbling and shaking as some sort of large insect like shape was squeezing itself into her open mouth. Muffled screams and shrieks slipped from Rebecca's stuffed lips, as the insect quickly went inside her mouth.

Joey gulped "I really wished I hadn't seen that".

Mai laid lifeless on the floor, moaning as if she was in pain as her eyes closed shut, her lips and limbs remaining limp and motionless. Rebecca's aqua marine colored eyes suddenly flashed open. The little girl slowly sat up on her dirtied white stocking knees, her eyes now a chilling shade of red.

"Mai? Hey, bug breath! What did you do to Mai and Rebecca?" Joey said.

Rebecca chuckled "Appetizers before the main course, oh, and by the way, the name's……**_Infectosect_**".

----------

To be continued……


	7. Baited

Baited

"Infecto what? What the hell are you babbling about Rebecca?" Joey asked.

The young girl known as Rebecca simply snarled and laughed at Joey's question; the child rushed towards Joey and violently tackled him. Joey grunted as he tried to hold her back.

Rebecca snarled "Release me you disgusting meat thing".

Joey frowned "Calm down you brainiac brat, we've got to get that bug out of you pronto, and soon as Yugi and the others get here we can OW".

A stinging, burning pain suddenly shot between Joey's legs, Rebecca had just kneed him in the groin. The blonde duelist clutched his family jewels as he collapsed to his knees and groaned in unimaginable pain. Rebecca's soft, pillow like freckled cheeks flustered with anger as she rushed out of the hospital room and was quickly confronted by Yugi, Tristan, and Tea.

"Rebecca, did you see Joey, he came down to ask you about Mai's condition" Tea said.

"Were really worried about him" Yugi added.

"Don't you brain dead meat sacks have _anywhere else_ to be but here?" Rebecca snapped.

The blonde girl shoved past them and screamed with drool dribbling from her snarling, peach chapped lips.

"Hey somebody stop her, she's gone wacko" Tristan shouted.

A few nurses tried to grab the fleeing girl, but Rebecca was too small and quick for them and she quickly darted down a hallway. Yugi and the others quickly followed, only to find Rebecca no where in sight.

CLANG!

Yugi blinked as he saw a metallic air conditioning grill be slammed against the wall……from the inside!

"Of course" Yugi said, snapping his fingers.

Tristan and Tea looked down and spotted a pair of white, stocking legs, squirming out of sight, it was Rebecca all right. The computer whiz had somehow managed to tear off the grill to the air ducts that supply the hospital with air conditioning, and was now crawling through out the ducts. Suddenly Joey appeared, his hands still desperately clinging to his private parts.

"Joey, what happened to you?" Tea asked.

"UGH don't ask, for Pete's sake just don't ask. Look you guys; I think there's something seriously wrong going on around here. I think Mai's brain dead too" Joey said.

----------

Joey and Tristan carefully lifted Mai's long, luscious locks of golden hair, shimmering like her curls were coated with sunshine. The young duelist sighed tearfully, as Joey had to watch his beloved Mai rest lifelessly in a hospital bed, while her attacker runs freely through out the hospital. Yugi, Tea, Professor Hawkins, and Dr. Greer were in the security room watching the surveillance video tapes. Greer gave them permission to view the tapes.

Yugi was hoping that through the recorded video from Rebecca's attack, they might find some sort of clue on how to find her, or stop whatever is controlling her.

"There, stop the tape RIGHT there" Greer said.

The video image flash froze, locked in a blurry image of a large, black, and insect like creature bursting from Mai's lips and attacking Rebecca. Tea groaned in obvious disgust and distaste.

"EW yuck, talk about nasty. Kaiba looks like an angel compared to that creepy, crawling thing" Tea said.

"It seems that the creature that came out of Ishizu didn't disappear after all, it must have entered Mai's body and simply waited for the right time to attack" Yugi said.

Greer nodded "I have no doubt that this monster is the organism responsible for erasing the other patient's brains and draining them of their memories and biological nutrients".

Tea blinked "But what is this thing, I mean where did it come from? It sort of looks like a duel monster but, there just cards, there not REAL".

Yugi replied "I don't know, but whatever this thing is, it's got Rebecca and if we don't find it soon, Rebecca is going to end up just like Mai and the others. We've got to find it and stop it before it escapes in Rebecca's body or worse, tries to take another one".

As the gang continued to rewind and replay the security videos, something slowly started to appear to the mysterious, soulful dark eyes of Yugi's other half, Yami. Yami suddenly switched with Yugi and leaned in close to the monitor screen.

"What's wrong Yugi, is everything all right?" Tea asked.

"Hold on one second, I think I found something" Yami said.

The spiky haired duelist slowed the video down and slowly cranked up the audio, Yami increased the camera's picture clarity as best he could.

"_So sweet"_

Yami gasped "That's it, that's the connection, it all makes sense now".

Tea, Greer, and Professor Hawkins curiously examined the tape as closely and intently as Yami did, all three of them shrugged their shoulders.

"I'm afraid I don't understand my boy. Please explain, what connection are you referring to?" Hawkins asked.

"The victims, the creature, his body switching, I understand it all now. This strange creature has some sort of affinity for girls and women" Yami said.

Tea's cheeks immediately turned a disgusted shade of blue, feeling violated and creeped out at the thought of being some sort of literal eye candy for this creature. The young girl shivered all over her white skirt and tan boots.

"Think about it, of the 5 victims, only two of them were male and both males were attacked directly after that report got out about the lighting storm. Every victim since then has been female. First Ishizu, then Mai, and now Rebecca" Yami said.

Greer blinked "I still don't understand how you came to that theory".

Yami explained "Think about it? That creature could have taken any one of our bodies back at the cyber café, but instead it _chose_ Mai, it specifically picked her and risked getting caught or killed by going after Mai. And even now, out of all the countless possible bodies to snatch, it chose another girl, this time Rebecca. It seems to have some sort of liking towards women".

Hawkins asked "But if that's true, why did he attack your grandfather and the Ferris boy?".

Yami frowned "Maybe the creature was weak and needed a quick body, perhaps grandpa was the only body it could find after it took Ferris. After that, it chose specifically women. Joey and Serenity even said grandpa was acting strange, calling Serenity sweet and almost grabbing her".

Tea gasped "That's the same thing Ishizu said to Mai before she jumped out of her body and attacked Mai".

Hawkins nodded "And according to the surveillance tapes audio, Mai said the exact same thing before attacking my dear Rebecca".

Joey and Tristan slowly walked in, finally gotten Mai safely secured and comfortable in her hospital bed, along with the other victims. Yami and Hawkins quickly filled them in on their discovery with the creature.

"Okay so, even if you guys are right and this creepy crawler is eye balling pretty girls left and right, how does that help us now?" Joey said.

"It's an advantage Joey. We now know the creature's weakness and we also know that it's running out of time. It's almost been 3 hours and soon the creature will have to exit the air ducts and find another body to inhabit" Yami said.

Tristan smirked "Oh I get it, wait the little sucker out and then nab the creep once he scurries out of his little rat hole".

Hawkins sighed "But there's over 50 nurses and doctors located in this hospital alone, not including the patients and ourselves. I imagine it will be downright impossible to pinpoint the creature's exact exit location".

Greer said "If there was only someway we could draw the creature out into the open, something we know the creature will come after".

Silence slowly settled into the room, as Yami and the others pondered of a way to solve this little predicament. Joey's eyes slowly turned towards Tea, her brown, chocolate colored locks of hair suddenly drawing an idea in his mind. Tea bit her lip nervously as she soon saw Greer, Yami, Hawkins and everyone else staring right at her. Tea turned blue and growled bitterly.

"No, no, and I'll say it again, NO" Tea screamed.

"Tea, it's the only way. It stinks to high heaven, trust me I know, but you're the only one who can do this" Joey said.

"Has your brain taken an early lunch Joey, or did it skip your skull beforehand? I am not parading myself out there so some super slimy bug thingy can crawl out of his hiding spot and snack on my brain" Tea said.

Tristan sighed "Come on Tea, were your friends, were not gonna let anything happen to you".

Hawkins nodded "We simply need you just to draw the creature out into the open, we will be right there to capture and detain the creature as soon as it appears".

Greer added "I assure you, it will be completely safe".

"No way, not a chance in hell buddy. I don't care how safe you say it is. I happen to like MY body and MY brain right where they are, why can't we just turn up the heat and flush this thing out of the air ducts or something?" Tea said.

Hawkins explained "But if Rebecca can't get out in time, she could be burned or suffocate from the heat. Please you must do this, to save my daughter; she's all I have left".

Minutes passed and Tea remained sternly silent, her arms crossed as she refused to comply. But as Yami and her friends poured their staring eyes into her shapely form, the young girl sighed in defeat.

10 minutes later……

Tea grunted "I am SO going to kill you guys for this".

The young girl was standing in front of the exit door to the hospital. Greer had approved a security lockdown and managed to have the entire hospital locked and sealed off any windows, doors, or any other possible exits.

Yami nodded "Don't worry, with every exit sealed off but this one, the creature will have no choice but to come out".

Tea sighed "That's what I'm afraid of".

Yami, Joey and the others remained hidden through out the hallway, silently watching and waiting for the creature's arrival. Tea bit her lip and gulped.

CLANG!

Another loud sound echoed through the hallways, Tea looked up and gasped, Rebecca was dangling from the air duct vent! The young girl plopped down onto her scoffed, black shoes and dirty white stocking legs. Rebecca looked up to Tea with glowing red eyes and a drooling smile on her you face.

Rebecca laughed "Yummy, yummy".

----------

To be continued……


	8. Call me Plague

Call Me Plague

Tea gulped as her shaking legs trembled under the unparalleled fear that crawled up the very depths of her soft, yet, shivering skin. The young girl's feet clicked together like chattering teeth, her toes curling tightly under tan boots at the tension rippling in the girl's blood vessels.

"I was getting awfully hungry looking for you" Rebecca said.

Inhuman, that's what Rebecca was, and it wasn't too difficult to tell that. The glowing red eyes and snarling, demonic voice Rebecca spoke with reminded Tea that she was not herself, that she was a body snatching monster with intentions to steal Tea's body.

"S-s-s-s-so, you're the t-t-t-thing that attacked Ishizu at the museum, Yugi's grandpa, and Mai……it was you wasn't you?" Tea asked.

"That I am, and now, your fate shall be the same as theirs" Rebecca said.

The little girl prepared to rush towards Tea, Yugi and the others quickly leapt to their feet to tackle the monster. But Tea raised a finger and secretly whispered a stern "NO" to her friends. Yugi and the others stopped though clearly showed concern by their defiant eyes, Tea gulped and signaled for them to……

"WAIT, wait, wait, before you……eat my brain or whatever it is you do, I have to know, what are you?" Tea asked.

Rebecca snarled "GR why must you babble sweet meat thing, my life is in danger and I must acquire your body NOW".

Tea blinked "Danger? You? Ha, now that's a laugh. You're a black body snatching bug monster the size of a lawnmower, what the hell scares you?".

Rebecca replied "My health of course. Snatching bodies is the only way I can sustain my organs, my body has limited time out in the open, due to my birth circumstances".

"Birth circumstances?" Tea asked.

The little freckles on Rebecca's cheeks flustered with glowing fits of rage, her young body shaking with conflictions and frustrations. It seemed Rebecca was being stalled by these questions, enraged and yet enticed to answer more. The creature had spent so much time body hopping, it had barely learned to produce conversations outside of threats and snarls. Whatever it was, something in this creature compelled it to continue talking.

Tea bit her lip and cautiously flexed her shaking finger nails across the soft, sweaty surface of her brow, she had to keep this going as long as possible. Information was needed to better understand the creature, and to figure out how to save Mai and the others. Yugi and Joey watched with deep concern.

"I don't like this, Tea's sticking her neck out and it could cost her big time" Joey said.

Yugi sighed "I know Joey, but this is Tea's choice and she's doing it to helps us help Grandpa and Mai and everyone else. The more we know about this creature the better so let's just give a bit more time".

A silent pause chilled the area as Tea awaited the creature's response.

"I don't know how but somehow an energy source liberated me from the confines of my duel monsters card. I am called Infectosect, and I have been leeching off bodies ever since that sickly human dumped me at the old man's house".

"Yugi's grandpa" Tea gasped.

Rebecca continued "It is what I do to live, survival of the fittest. The longer I stay in these bodies, the stronger I become, and soon I will have ingested enough neural DNA to survive outside or inside you human bodies for as long as I wish. About 2 or 3 more bodies should do it".

Tea said "But what kind of life are you living? This is crazy, you're hurting innocent people, treating them like walking snack bars and leaving them as hollow shells. You're not a survivor you're a monster, a virus, a disgusting, slimy plague".

The infected girl chuckled a bit at the sound of that word, Rebecca cradled her soft, baby smooth cheeks and chin as she scratched them lightly.

"A plague huh? Ha, ha, I like the sound of that. All right then, from now on, call me……_Plague_" the creature laughed.

Tea slowly stepped back, the smile painted on that creepy little girl's face only made Tea feel worse. The dark, chestnut brown haired head of Tea nudged towards her friends, signaling them that now was the time to strike.

"And I believe I call you food" Plague said.

"NOW" Yugi screamed.

CRASH!

Yugi, Joey, Greer, and Tristan dog piled onto Plague, still inside Rebecca's young and small body. The creature snarled as he was suddenly pinned by Tea's multiple friends. Rebecca's legs and arms were pinned, Yugi tightened his grip around her neck as he made sure to keep her completely trapped.

"Sit still ya perverted body snatcher, you ain't going anywhere" Joey said.

"Don't worry Tea, we have him pinned, you're safe now" Yugi said.

Tea nervously laughed and leaned against the wall, her hand rubbing her aching temples after nearly stressing herself to death. Plague growled and snarled as he vainly tried to lift his limbs.

"Oh wow thanks you guys, that is SUCH a relief. I was just about ready to jump out of my skin" Tea sighed.

Plague smirked "You're not the only one".

Tristan growled "Stuff it worm boy all your options are cut off".

Plague laughed "Except one".

BLEACH!

Tristan gasped as Plague suddenly ejected himself from Rebecca's lips like a glob of spit. The black beetle burst into the air and flew right towards Tea, she gasped and screamed in horror.

WHAM!

Plague latched himself around Tea's head as she dropped to the ground. Yugi screamed as he desperately ran towards Tea, the bug's black, slimy coated body was already changing its size and shrinking down into Tea's mouth. The girl frantically shouted muffled screams, her bare legs kicking and thumping on the ground as her body was invaded. Yugi reached mouth but only grabbed at thin air, Plague had now taken over Tea completely.

The young spiky haired teen stared in disbelief, Yugi's skin turned blue in the face.

"No……No……Tea" Yugi said.

"Ha, ha, ha, sorry little Yugi but Tea's not home right now, would you like to leave a message?" Plague said.

Tea's body suddenly lurched up and kicked Yugi right off her chest, she bolted to the hospital doors and smashed through them. Two hospital guards were shoved down as Plague ran from the hospital in Tea's stolen body. Yugi cried out and slammed his fist into the ground.

"NO DAMMIT NO! We had him, and we just let him slip through our fingers. Awe Tea, I'm so, so, sorry" Yugi said.

Joey frowned "Don't give up yet Yug, were not letting that creep get away with this".

Tristan nodded "Joey's right until that thing's full, he's going to keep needing bodies to stay alive and as long as we have that, we got time to catch up with him".

Professor Hawkins asked "But how? With poor Rebecca as a vegetable, we have no way of knowing how to cure the others or capture the creature. We need a plan".

Yugi rose up from the ground, his eyes had changed into a fiercer, more glaring stare. He had changed to Yami.

"I've got one. I'm going to find Kaiba and see if I can get him to use his resources to find Tea, perhaps his technology can help give us a heads up. Doctor Greer, please have your nurses alert the authorities and put a warrant out for Tea. Joey, I need you and Tristan to find an old acquaintance of ours, someone who knows of this Infectosect duel monsters card" Yami said.

Professor Hawkins asked "But what about the cure?".

Yami nodded "You and Greer stay here and do what you can, see if you can salvage any information Rebecca may have dug up before Plague attacked her. Perhaps the saliva from Rebecca's mouth can provide DNA of sorts. I've got to hurry and find Tea now, make your way over to Kaibacorp soon as your finished".

The gang nodded and immediately split up to do their tasks. Hawkins took his brain dead daughter to the medical labs while Geer called the police, Yami exited the hospital and started to head for Kaibacorp.

Meanwhile……

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Open up you lousy creep, we know you're in there" Joey shouted.

Tristan and Joey continued to slam their angry fists into a door, their voices and screams rising with each knock. A loud click could be heard as the door's owner finally caved in. Joey and Tristan watched as the door opened.

Tristan smirked "As weird as this sounds, your just who we wanted to see".

Weevil Underwood snarled "Just what the hell do you two losers want?".

----------

To be continued……


	9. A word with Weevil

A word with Weevil

"To what honor do I owe you half brained sidekicks showing up at my doorstep?" Weevil asked.

Tristan gripped his brazen, rock hard knuckles around the green collar of the bug duelist as Weevil was violently jerked off his bug tennis shoes and bare legs. Weevil gasped as his light blue haired head was slammed up against a wall. Both Joey and Tristan glared hatefully at the vile face of their old annoyance, Weevil Underwood.

"Let's get one thing straight inch worm, you're the last person we would want to see _willing_, after every dirty and cheap trick you've used on Yugi and us, I should hammer your glasses into your skull" Tristan said.

"But?" Weevil asked.

"Sigh, but you're the only one who knows how about bug cards in duel monsters. And right now we need all the help we can get" Joey said.

Weevil grunted as Tristan dropped the slimy, green suited insect duelist to the ground and kept those dark, wood brown eyes angrily focused on Weevil.

Joey said "We need info and this info is crucial to possibly saving A LOT of people's lives, including some personal friends of ours. So if you want to come out of this in one piece, you're going to tell us what we want to know".

Weevil growled "You know if we were dueling monsters instead of fisticuffs, I'd be squashing you miserable insects in a heartbeat".

"Stuff if bug breath and just tell us what we want to know" Tristan shouted.

The geek duelist groaned and shrugged his green shoulders, having no choice but to comply. Weevil pulled up a dark brown chair and leaned back as his golden glasses shimmered in his dimly lit apartment.

"Let's get this over with; what do you 2 boobs want to know?" Weevil asked.

Joey replied "We want to know everything we can about something called the Infectosect card".

Underwood suddenly leapt off his teal sneakers and gasped, Weevil's beady bug eyes nearly bulged out of their golden rim glasses.

"How the hell do you know about that card?" Weevil screamed.

Joey blinked "Trust me, you wouldn't believe us if we told you".

Tristan groaned "Skip the drama and cut to the chase, do you know anything about this card or not?".

The diminutive little duelist moved to close his door and immediately snap shut the locking mechanism around the door's base. Weevil then returned back to his chair and silently stared his menacing, penetrating eyes at Joey and Tristan.

Weevil smirked "Of course I do, every bug duelist worth his webbing knows about the Infectosect card. It's the rarest bug monster in all of duel monsters and one of the strangest monsters in existence. The Infectosect physically interfaces with any opposing monster and takes complete control over the opposing monster's body.

Infectosect then can either destroy the monster, or manipulate its body to attack its duelist and attack his or her life points directly. Infectosect is a lot like a virus, it sneaks into organisms and either controls or destroy it from the inside out. It's a powerful and especially tricky monster to destroy".

Silence dawned on the two young boys as they silently pondered, thinking more and more about the creature now called Plague. With Tea's body under his control, there's no telling what he'll do or worse, what he's GOING to do. Weevil growled.

"Hey, I think I'm owed a little something there for my help. You can start by telling me how you know about this card in the first place" Weevil demanded.

"We think someone used the card in a duel, some freak accident happened and now everything revolves around that card" Tristan said.

Tristan felt it would be wise to avoid telling Weevil the truth about what was really happening. Though Weevil has seen some strange things ever since he joined up with Rex Raptor alongside Dartz and his mystical minions, Tristan felt even this was a bit too weird for him to buy. Weevil burst with laughter.

Joey growled "Hey freak boy, what's so funny?".

Weevil chuckled "Please, you guys are either stupider then you look or you must think I'm a sap".

Tristan asked "What are you talking about".

"There's no way you could have seen an Infectosect card anywhere because it was banned from duel monsters _years_ ago" Weevil said.

Both Tristan and Joey gasped in shock.

"What the hell are you talking about, how could a stupid playing card get banned from all of duel monsters?" Joey said.

Weevil grunted "Because of all the superstitious dim wits we have in this city, that's why. About 6 months after the card had been released, Pegasus's company started receiving complaints about the Infectosect card. Duelists were saying the card shorted out their dueling discs and that it kept disobeying or ignoring orders. It was like the card was cursed or something.

People thought it was jinxed, a bad omen, a black cat in card form. They all sound like a bunch of pea brained fools if you ask me. Eventually Pegasus had no choice but to recall the card, regardless if the rumors about it were true, every Infectosect card was repossessed and stored in Pegasus's vault".

Tristan blinked "But if they were locked up then how did one of the cards slip out?".

Weevil snarled "I already told you, it's impossible. The entire city was cleaned out of that card from top to bottom. The only place you would EVER see an Infectosect card is in Pegasus castle".

"Or……if someone stole it" Joey gasped.

Suddenly the two duelists had realized something, Plague didn't just appear out of thin air, he was unwittingly brought in by the person who stole the card, the same person who was caught playing the card during the storm.

"JACK FERRIS" Joey and Tristan shouted.

"Who?" Weevil blinked.

Not another word was said; Tristan and Joey looked at each other and suddenly bolted from the room. Weevil gasped as he fell backwards from his chair, blinking curiously at the dust trails left by the two duelists rushing out of his home like a bat out of hell.

Meanwhile……

A young, blue haired woman smiled, sitting behind a large desk with a computer and a telephone. Her black stocking legs and dark skirt flowed as she turned in her swivel chair to face the person who had contacted her.

"Hello, welcome to Kaibacorp industries. My name is Melissa, how can I help you?" the woman asked.

"Tell me, is Mr. Kaiba available for visitors?" Plague asked, smiling wickedly in Tea's stolen body.

----------

To be continued……


	10. Meet at Kaibacorp

Meet at Kaibacorp

"Joey, Tristan, Tea, anyone?" Yami called.

The young duelist glared his sharp, vivid purple eyes across the seemingly empty and silent tomb like entrance office to Kaibacorp. No doubt Kaiba's presence made the building and its employees as cold and empty as he acted towards virtually everyone. Yet still, things felt stranger and quieter then usual as Yami clicked his black shoes and dark blue pants across the silver tile floor.

"Is it the receptionist's day off or does this look like what I think it looks like Yugi" Yami said.

A black name slate reading "Melissa" sat in front of an empty swivel chair, the telephone continued to ring and flash it's blinking lights, with not a soul in sight to answer them. Yami curiously looked across the small table and still found nothing.

"Ugh"

Yami gasped at the sound of that small moan, the duelist quickly rushed to the source of the sound, it was coming from behind the receptionist's desk, closer to the elevator.

"By gods……TEA" Yami screamed.

A bare foot laid lifelessly on the cold, chilling gray tile floor. Yami rushed and found Tea's body, drooling in a slurring, zombie like stare with one of her boots fallen off. The girl lay lifelessly and mindlessly as Yami approached his friend and gently cupped the soft, rosy skin of her cheeks. Yami cringed. Oh how it hurt Yami and Yugi to see Tea like this, how it voraciously ate at their hearts to see the sweetest soul in the world like this.

Putting two and two together, Yami knew that Plague must have taken over Melissa's body when he exited Tea's. The spiky haired boy scratched his chin and curiously stared at the endless hallway of elevators.

"He could be in anyone of them, who knows how much time has passed before I arrived" Yami said.

"HEY YUGI"

Yami turned and spotted Tristan and Joey rushing through the doors, the two boys shoved past the mirror like doorways and ran towards Yami beside Tea's body.

Joey gasped "Oh no……Tea……just like all the others".

Tristan snarled "That son of a BITCH, I swear to god I'm going to rip off every one of his legs for this".

Yami said "Calm down, both of you. Were all upset but that's not going to help Tea and it's certainly not going to help us catch her attacker. Plague has taken control of a girl named Melissa, she's Kaiba's receptionist. We've got to find Kaiba or his security team and alter them of Plague's presence".

"Oh yeah, Kaiba's going to be real understanding of us just barging in here spouting stories about a body snatching duel monster" Joey said.

"Be that as it may, there is a reason why Plague chose _this_ particular location. He's here for a reason and we've got to find him and stop whatever it is he's planning" Yami said.

Tristan snapped his fingers as almost forgot something.

"Yugi, we got a call from Hawkins and Doc Greer, he says they can create an antidote to reverse the effects of Plague's brain bite and return everyone back to normal" Tristan said.

Yami smiled "That's excellent news".

Joey sighed "Yeah but there's a catch, we got to get a sample of bug boy's tonsils. The doc says that the juices inside his tonsils".

Tristan groaned "Tendrils".

"Ugh, whatever. Those things hold the key to saving everyone from being permanent vegetables" Joey said.

Yami nodded and began devising a plan with his two friends, sharing information and telling Yami what they learned from Weevil Underwood. As the boys continued to separate and start their search for the slippery, body snatching insect, Plague was already secretly devising his own plan. The black beetle was hiding in a dark, small computer room. A guard lay unconscious at the doorway, Plague was now using Melissa's body.

The girl's soft, feather like fingers rapidly tapped into the keys of the computer's keyboard. Melissa's infected red eyes ran over countless bits of data. Plague was looking for something in Kaiba's computers, and it appeared he would not rest until he found it.

"Access main computer, access main program, access Kaiba network, access satellite surveillance and global connection program" Plague whispered.

A large red "error" message flashed in front of the computer screen.

"PIECE OF JUNK" Plague screamed.

The possessed girl smashed her hands into the keyboard and broke it in half; mangled, busted keys flew everywhere as Melissa's body panted heavily.

Plague frowned "That arrogant money munching little weasel, I can't access Kaibacorp's online satellite network without his password. This worthless girl's body can only access so much data before being locked out. No matter. I'll just have to stick with my original plan and get the information straight from the horse's mouth, or in this case, Seto Kaiba's mouth".

Melissa's body sat up from the swivel chair and ran towards the door, vanishing into the shadowy hallways of Kaibacorp.

----------

"Any luck you guys?" Yami asked.

"Nope, sorry Yug" Joey said.

"This is crazy; it feels like we've been searching for hours. Why Kaiba designed his company's home office to look like a freaking maze is beyond me" Tristan said.

Yami replied "Were running out of time, Plague's growing stronger by the minute and soon he'll be able to stay in whatever body he wants permanently. We've got to find him before its too late".

Joey smirked "Then I say we pay old Kaiba creep a visit".

Tristan blinked "A personal visit? Joey are you nuts? He's never going to believe us".

Yami answered "No, he doesn't have to, but Kaiba's main office probably controls 90 percent of the security systems for his building. That way we can follow Plague's movements and at least slow him down from doing……well whatever it is he's doing".

"Hey, who let you three punks in?" a man said.

Yami, Joey, and Tristan turned around and spotted a dark brown haired man in a slick silver suit, dark purple tie, and a fancy pair of midnight black shades. It was Kaiba's assistant Walter. Walter's curious eyes turned towards the bare legs lying sprawled by Melissa's desk, he gasped when he saw Tea's body sitting lifelessly in Melissa's chair.

Walter frowned "You better have one hell of a good explanation".

----------

BZZT!

Melissa smiled wickedly as her green fingernails flexed against Kaiba's intercom.

"What is it Melissa, I thought I told you I didn't want to be disturbed and that's EXACTLY what you're doing right now" Kaiba snarled.

"My apologies Mr. Kaiba sir, but I've got an important message for you sir, it's a matter of life and death" Melissa said.

Kaiba groaned "Unless it's concerning my life, I don't really see how that's any of my business".

Melissa persisted "Please Mr. Kaiba sir, this is extremely important, I swear it'll only take a second".

A few minutes pass and nothing but silence returns to Plague's ears, he bit his lip as his womanly hands clenched into nervous fists. If Plague couldn't get inside Kaiba's office everything would be ruined.

"Make it quick" Kaiba said.

Melissa smiled, a sinister, foxy little smirk as the doors opened up. The possessed woman entered Kaiba's office and spotted him glaring angrily at her behind his desk, sitting firmly in his brown leather swivel chair. Across from Kaiba, his younger brother Mokuba blinked and turned. A calculator was in his hands along with a bunch of documents and papers.

Melissa grinned "Thank you so very much for seeing me Mr. Kaiba".

Kaiba yawned "I'm bored Melissa and you said you had something urgent to tell me, so just spit it out before I throw you out".

"_With pleasure_" Melissa cackled.

Kaiba and Mokuba blinked as Melissa's voice suddenly changed into a completely different one. Bulging veins sprouted up the creamy baselines of Melissa's neck as something was crawling up her body, twisting around her figure and twisting black stocking knees. Kaiba frowned in bitter disgust as a slimy, saliva soaked black head sprouted out of Melissa's outstretched lips.

"If this is someone's idea of a sick joke, it's certainly the sickest one I've ever seen" Kaiba said.

Plague screamed as he leapt from Melissa's body just seconds before it collapsed and opened his claws and jaws wide for Kaiba's face.

"Big brother, look out" Mokuba screamed.

The spiky haired little boy rushed towards Kaiba's desk and immediately shoved Kaiba's wheeling, swivel chair out of the way. Plague's blood red eyes widened in horror as he slammed right over Mokuba's face. Mokuba screamed a muffled cry for help as his little legs and arms violently thrashed.

"Mokuba, get the hell off of him, NOW" Kaiba screamed.

The tyrant tycoon grabbed at Mokuba's lips, futilely trying to grab the last remnants of the black beetle's body before it slipped completely into Mokuba's small body. Kaiba held his younger brother in his arms and scowled in anger.

"Someone get a medic in here immediately" Kaiba said.

Suddenly Mokuba's eyes opened up, revealing blood red, twisted looking pupils. Mokuba curiously stared at his small hands before looking at Kaiba's face. The young boy gasped and suddenly screamed in indescribable anger.

"NOOOOOOOOO! You greedy, rat faced, egomaniacal little bastard, what the hell have you done?" Plague screamed in Mokuba's body.

Kaiba blinked "Mokuba? What in the world happened to your voice? UGH".

Mokuba smashed Kaiba's desk lamp across his face, he ripped off the lamp's cord and savagely started to strangle Kaiba with it.

"Ack……Mokuba……what are you doing?" Kaiba wheezed.

"MORON, you've ruined everything. I was supposed to go into your body, not this pint sized rodent's body. Everything I worked so hard to accomplish is gone now and it's all your stupid brother's fault you prick" Plague said.

"Looks like I was right after all" Yami said.

Plague looked up and gasped, it was Yami, Joey, Tristan, and Walter, standing in the door way and eyeing Plague inside Mokuba's stolen body.

----------

To be continued……


	11. Face Off

Face off

The shaking, tiny, toothpick young legs of Mokuba's possessed body trembled as sweat dribbled from his dark, mop top like hair. Plague stared hatefully at the lavender eyes of his loathsome enemy: Yugi Moto.

"It's impossible, there's no way you could have found me" Plague snarled.

"Oh it's quite possible, it was simply a matter of being at the right place at the right time" Yugi said proudly.

The young duelist had switched back to his true self, his soft cheeks bitterly snarling a vile, hate filled glare at the insidious insect that had harmed his closest, and kindest friend, Tea. Kaiba continued to blink in confusion.

"As dramatic as this may be, would someone mind telling me what the hell is going on?" Kaiba snapped.

Plague growled and crunched his blue sneaker foot into Kaiba's jaw, striking the billionaire and kicking him towards Yugi and his friends.

"Shut your blow hole you pompous prick" Plague said in Mokuba's body.

Joey and Tristan helped Kaiba onto his feet, he snarled and quickly thrashed his skinny forearms to free himself of their so called help.

Tristan scoffed "Ungrateful much?".

Kaiba growled "Piss off smart mouth, that goes for you too Wheeler".

Joey frowned and started to roll up his sleeves but Yugi quickly quelled the fighting and raised his arms to block the two. The spiky haired duelist adjusted his magenta and gold mixed hair, presenting a calm, stern, and firm figure in the presence of the monstrous body snatcher.

"I don't care what Yami says, Tea and Mokuba are both my friends and I'm not going to let this slimy worm hurt anyone else. This time I'm going to be the one pulling the sneak attack" Yugi thought to himself.

Plague laughed wickedly, his dark voice sounding downright morbid and creepy inside Kaiba's younger and innocent looking, little brother. Kaiba simply stared and remained horrified at his brother's twisted laughter.

"Whoever you are, you are certainly not my brother Mokuba, so why don't you cut the crap and bring him back THIS INSANT" Kaiba demanded.

"HA, your in no position to demand Ritchie rich, I'm holding all the cards here and your brother is the key to me getting what I want" Plague said.

Yugi smirked "Kaiba's not going to surrender his master computer network to you Plague".

Mokuba's eyes gasped.

"H-h-how the hell did you know THAT?" Plague shouted.

Yugi explained "Same way we found you here in the first place. I told Joey and Tristan to meet me up here after we did a little searching, we knew Kaiba had high tech equipment that would allow us to find you much quicker then just relying on the police and our friends back at the hospital. That's when I realized that Kaibacorp was exactly where you'd be".

Plague laughed "Oh yeah, how so?".

Yugi replied "Rebecca said you could hack into computer systems, and Dr. Greer said you can access the memories of the people's bodies you inhabit. So I suspected you learned about Kaiba's technology through Tea's brain and then planned on taking over Kaiba's body to enter his computer network. Not only that, but you'd have complete control over Kaibacorp".

Joey smiled "I get it, that way you could use all that money and power to do whatever you want. Not to mention you'd have an endless supply of brain food with all of Kaiba's employees and staff".

Kaiba just stared blankly at everyone, his dark eyes cringing in utter horror and utter disgust. This was the most insane, idiotic, and craziest thing Kaiba has ever heard in his entire life.

Plague shrugged "Hardly. I didn't have any intention of leaving Kaiba's body once I entered it. I've acquired enough cerebral DNA and proteins to stay in a body as long as I want, I intended to stay in Kaiba's body and with his resources, do whatever I want to whomever I wanted. Unfortunately this piss ant rodent called Mokuba butted in and ruined everything".

Both Tristan and Joey crackled their knuckles as they approached Mokuba, eager to get payback on the little worm for what he did to their friends.

"Well you'll be sucking your brain food through a straw when were done with you insect breath" Joey said.

"GRRR I told you my name is PLAGUE you nitwit" Mokuba screeched.

BZZT!

Suddenly, 4 huge, black suited guards rushed into the area and quickly grabbed Yugi, Joey, and Tristan from behind. Another guard approached Mokuba as Kaiba slowly placed his communication device back into his dark white coat pocket.

"Kaiba, you've got to stop this, you don't know who you're dealing with" Yugi said.

"HMPH, you've got that right Yugi but fortunately for me, I've got the money and the muscle to find out. I want you to take these piles of trash out of here and throw them out on the streets where they belong. In the meantime, I've got a very sick little brother to take care of" Kaiba said.

The guards crushed their massive forearms around the backs of the 3 duelists, Yugi and the others struggled but remained helpless as they were dragged outside of the room. Kaiba and another guard carefully and cautiously approached Mokuba.

"Please don't worry Mokuba, you're going to get the best help money can buy" Kaiba said.

"You don't know how right you are" Plague said.

In a flash, Mokuba sprawled onto his knees and quickly darted between the legs of the approaching guard. Plague's small little body proved quite effective at dodging and avoiding the guard's reaching hands. Plague then ran towards Kaiba's knees and smacked his legs right out from under him. Kaiba grunted as he dropped to the ground while Mokuba escaped.

"Forget those geeks, get my brother back, NOW" Kaiba ordered.

The dark suited men nodded and quickly released Yugi and his friends before bolting after Mokuba. Yugi, Joey, and Tristan quickly followed with Kaiba not too far behind. The spiky haired young boy was seen waving to Yugi as metallic doors closed around him, Plague was escaping in an elevator.

"Hurry you guys, this way, I think I know where he might be going" Yugi said.

Joey and Tristan followed Yugi into the second elevator and Yugi immediately pressed the "rooftop" button. Kaiba and his guards entered a third elevator, and followed the same pattern. In a few moments, Yugi, Kaiba, Joey, Tristan, and Kaiba's guards were on the rooftop of Kaibacorp.

"Don't you even think about it" Plague said.

Mokuba's body was gently teetering over the insanely high roof top of the glass covered, multi-million dollar corporation. Kaiba gasped as he watched his young brother's black hair softly sway in the chilling whispers of the cold sky air, any ounce of movement able to send his brother over the edge. Yugi quickly approached Plague but halted as he raised Mokuba's hand.

"Not another step hero, not unless you want Mokuba's new name to be street pizza" Plague cackled.

"NO, Mokuba don't" Kaiba pleaded.

"Yellow bellied scumbag, come out and fight like a……whatever you are" Joey said.

Mokuba crossed his small forearms and simply laughed. Yugi clutched his fists as he felt paralyzed from the waist down, his whole body trembling with fear. Mokuba's blood red eyes flashed with an evil unlike anything he had ever seen or felt, and Yugi was helpless to help the poor boy locked inside those devilish eyes.

"You got one shot and one shot only to save this boy, surrender Kaiba's body to me and walk away. Otherwise, Mokuba's death will be on ALL of your heads" Plague said.

As Yugi nervously looked to Kaiba, he sighed to see his rich and hated rival trembling in fear. In all the battles, threats, and games Kaiba has endured, there was none more terrifying or crippling then to see his only family be used as a bargaining chip for his own life. Yugi clutched his tear filled eyes.

"_**YU-GI-OH"**_

Plague gasped as suddenly Yugi's eyes, voice, and appearance slightly changed, Yugi was now Yami.

"For someone who claims to have the cards stacked in his favor, you're certainly not much of a player Plague. I can see right through your bluff" Yami said.

Kaiba gasped "Hold it right there, what in god's name do you think you're doing Yugi? That's my brother's life you're talking about".

Plague nodded "He's right you fool! Do you really think I won't do it? Mokuba's life is as worthless to me as the next, I'd gladly end his life".

Yami smirked "That may be true, but something tells me you're not going to survive the fall either".

Joey and Tristan remained still, watching and wondering what Yugi's bold and possibly suicidal strategy was turning out to be. It seemed to be causing enough fear in Plague's mind. Young Mokuba's face turned deathly pale as his blood red eyes shivered with nervous twitches, his whole young body started to tremble and quiver like a shaking leaf all over.

"Y-y-y-y-your mad, completely mad, of course I can survive this fall. This body isn't mind remember? All I have to do is ooze right out of Mokuba after he's dead, simple as that" Plague said.

Yami grinned "You're lying. Even if you could, your body is too small and short to walk away without severe physical trauma. Mokuba is the only thing keeping you safe and I know from your patterns that you're not the kind who likes to take chances. You may be a man sized bug, but you've still got only 1 life to lose. So then……what's it going to be Plague?".

Plague silently bit his lip as he stared nervously at his blue sneakers and sweaty fists, his young cheeks flustered with frustration and confusion. Kaiba and the others watched, sitting on pins and needles as the nerve racking tension continued to bubble and boil until it looked like Plague could stand it no longer.

"Take me instead" Yami said.

Joey and Tristan gasped.

"Leave Mokuba's body, and enter mine, I won't fight you" Yami said.

Mokuba gulped a large swallow of fear down his small throat as he nodded. Plague had no other choice, he stepped down from the ledge as Yami very, very slowly approached him.

"Yugi, don't do it man, there's got to be a better way" Joey called out.

Mokuba's cheeks and jaws puffed out as Plague's black, saliva soaked insect body started to crawl out of Mokuba's young lips. Suddenly Yami screamed as he lunged towards Mokuba and tackled Plague the second his body left Mokuba's. Yami and Plague went over the railing edge and fell from the top of Kaibacorp, straight down to the ground. Kaiba eyes nearly bulged out.

"YUGI NO" Joey and Tristan both screamed.

----------

To be continued……


	12. The End?

The End?

Author: The unique ending of this story is not a mistake, no matter how weird it may appear to be. So before everyone starts flaming me asking "This doesn't make any sense" or "What are they doing in this show?". Just remember, there's a question mark in place for a reason.

----------

The rushing cool air of the winds chilled up the backsides of Yami as he violently struggled with Plague. The duelist's blue suit flayed under the sharp, rising winds as he fell faster, and faster to the ground. The world seemed to past by Yami's dark, magenta shaded eyes as quickly as a raindrop in a storm. Everything and everyone seemed to be vanishing into thin lined blurs before Yami and Plague's eyes, as they continued to fight.

Plague snapped his vicious fangs at the pale cheeks of the brilliant duel master with little hesitation.

"Fool, you really think this fall will kill me?" Plague laughed.

"Even if it doesn't, it's certainly going to put a cramp on any future body swapping you plan to do" Yami said.

Yami locked his fists around the black, talon claws of the hideous insect as they continued to fall. Now Plague was locked in a back breaking bear hug. Yami swore he would never let go, he would make sure the creature continued to struggle and squirm until he had only one option left.

"A wasted ambition then you walking porcupine. I'll be taking your body now, and I'll be more then happy to give it back to you AFTER you break my fall" Plague said.

The black insect snatched his slobbering, pronged talon fangs around Yami's forehead. Plague's mandible arms and claws stretched out as he planned to shrink and slurp his twisted body inside Yugi's body.

BZZT!

A flash of golden light flashed around Yami's face, Plague screamed as he was repelled. Some kind of strange energy force was preventing Plague from entering Yami. Yami smirked coldly as Plague latched onto his face again, only to be blasted off once more. The ground was getting closer very quickly and a look of panicking fear stretched over Plague's repulsive features.

"NO! I don't understand it, why can't I enter your body? Why? I've never had a problem doing it before. Why should now be any different? TELL ME" Plague demanded.

The golden light surging around Yami suddenly split into a fractured, double image of two young boys. The Egyptian light surged across the single, blue suited body like a fire engulfing every limb, inch, and area. Plague's blood red eyes shone magnificently with the sunlight beam blinding his wincing pupils. Plague saw the faint, faded image of a younger boy, one who looked like a slimmer, younger version of Yami. The other boy was Yami himself.

The golden pyramid necklace dangling from Yami's neck was sparking wild with radiant electrical energy and golden light. A pair of dagger piercing, magenta eyes form both Yugi and Yami glared into the fearful soul of the black bug monster. Plague fanged lips gasped in light of a terrible discovery.

"You cannot infect us because there is _already_ a second soul inside this body Plague. We are Yugi and Yami, twin souls inhabiting the same body through the mystical powers of the Millennium puzzle. It looks like you can only inhabit people with one spirit in their body, and I'm sorry to say this motel is fresh out of vacancies" Yami and Yugi said.

"No, no, no, no! This is impossible. You tricked me, you planned this all along and knew I couldn't enter your body" Plague said.

"This may not be an official duel monsters match Plague, but it looks like you still ended up the loser" Yami chuckled.

A shrieking scream echoed from Plague's lips as the insect had learned that he had been defeated, and that he was now plummeting to his death with his hated enemy. Yami grunted as a sharp pain suddenly struck the damp, sweat stained flesh of his arm pits.

"Ugh, I got you Yug, just hang on a second" Joey grunted.

"Bring him up, I'll get his knees" Tristan said.

Joey and Tristan had traveled down to a lower level of Kaibacorp and waited outside an open window. The two boys then waited for Yugi to fall and stretched their arms out, hoping to catch him before they were too late. Yugi and Yami's bulging eyes watched as Plague continued to fall and scream. A slew of constriction vehicles, digging machines, and other powerful pieces of metal lay at the bottom level of Kaibacorp. Yugi and Yami looked away.

CRANK!

Plague sliced into a metallic shell, a cement truck to be exact, swirling and churning liquid concrete in its gray spinning shell. Dozens of construction workers gasped and screamed as they saw Plague fall into the cement mixer.

"Uh hey buddy, you okay?" a curious worker asked.

The black bug screamed from the bubbling pool of liquid cement, the workers hollered in horror as they quickly moved away. Plague grunted and coughed as globs of thick wet cement slime dripped from his wheezing jaws. The monstrous insect climbed out of the truck with wobbly legs and sluggish muscles. Plague collapsed to the ground and simply coughed up more gray goop.

"M-m-m-m-must esca-p-p-p-pe" Plague said.

The beetle continued to gag and crawl with the thick, hardening coat of cement stiffening his body. The sun roasted the gray slime and accelerated the hardening process faster then usual. Joey, Tristan, Kaiba, and Yami exited Kaibacorp's entrance doors and gasped at what they saw.

"Well, well, well, would you look at that" Yami said.

Plague had been completely frozen still, encased forever in a shell of solid cement and concrete.

Hours later……

"Oh man……uh yes sir, I'll get you that cheese burger right away" Tea moaned.

"Hey guys, she's finally coming to" Joey said.

The lovely, sweet smiling rosy cheeks of the sleepy Tea slowly stirred to life as her sparkling cerulean eyes opened up completely. Tea awoke to see Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Professor Hawkins, and Dr. Greer standing above her.

"Hey Tea welcome back" Yugi happily exclaimed.

"Yugi? Guys? I'm awake. You did it you guys, you did it" Tea shouted.

The girl quickly wrapped her arms around her friends in a tight embrace, Tea's yellow sweater arms locking around Yugi's head.

"I knew you guys would bring me back, I never doubted any of you for a second" Tea said.

Yugi smiled and bashfully stared down at his black coal sneakers, lightly shuffling as he was overwhelmed by Tea's enthusiastic appreciation. Joey spotted Yugi's shy nature and chuckled as he lightly elbowed him.

"Awe it was nothing Tea, you should be thanking Yug here. He was the little genius that figured how to beat old bug breath and save you from the whole sleeping beauty routine" Joey said.

"Naw, not really, I was just lucky I guess. No biggie" Yugi said nervously.

Tea smiled as she noticed Yugi's bashful pale cheeks blossoming into a rosy red color. Leaning down and letting her hazelnut brown hair swiftly brush up against Yugi's purple locks, Tea smiled and kissed Yugi's red cheeks.

"Wrong, it's a big biggie" Tea said.

Yugi just blushed brighter and almost passed out from the overwhelming warmth that began filling up his small face. Heartwarming laughter erupted from Yugi's circle of friends; Yugi just sighed and concealed his blushing face behind his stormy locks of purple and golden hair. Greer and Hawkins also laughed as they approached the group of young teens.

"Marvelous work Yugi, you should be very proud of yourself. Thanks to you and your friends we now have a vaccine capable of curing all of Plague's victims and returning them to normal" Greer said.

"But how?" Tea curiously asked.

Hawkins held up a small, black and gray spike. The spike was twisted and mixed between soggy gray and pitch black. On the bottom of the twisted spike were small, withered gray nerve endings that have been severed.

"This sharp tonsil or spore if you will is the source of Plague's body snatching. We severed it from his jugular and discovered it secretes a powerful toxin, one strong enough to paralyze a victim's nervous system from the inside out. This temporary paralysis allows Plague to slip inside the victim's body, and adapt into it's genetic structure" Hawkins said.

"By removing it and dissolving the concrete, we were able to synthesize an antidote. We'll start administering it to other victims and soon they'll all be good as new" Greer said.

"Don't forget to send someone over to Kaibacorp. Mokuba and that reception lady are going to need this stuff too" Yugi said.

"And make sure the cop's slap that Ferris kid behind bars. Just as soon as his sorry ass wakes up. That thief started this whole mess by stealing that card and he deserves whatever's coming to him" Joey said.

The gang slowly diverted their attention to the exiting doors of the hospital; several police officers were hauling away the statue of Plague. The police raised large wood panels against the sides of the bug statue; the panels soon formed a shipping crate. Yugi curiously looked to Professor Hawkins.

"Professor, what's going to happen to Plauge's body now?" Yugi asked.

"I have a scientist friend in America who might be interested in studying him. He lives in Middleton, and I'm shipping it to the Middleton museum for him to pick up. It's too large to be delivered to his house so this was the next best thing" Hawkins said.

One of the officers slapped a sticker on the side of the box next to the red "Danger/Fragile" warning signs on the crate. The sticker read: Middleton.

"Yes I think Doctor James Timothy Possible is just the scientist who would find this statue interesting" Hawkins said proudly.

----------

Late at the Middleton Museum……

The large crate remained still as stone inside the dark, towering halls of shadows of the Middleton museum. Two shadowy figures lurked in silence inside the museum's shipping department.

"This is it, this is exactly what I've been waiting for" the male shadow said.

"Oh come on, can't you put this petty squabble to rest? Hijacking some box because it has HIS name on it is pretty pathetic, even for you" the female shadow said.

"Zip it. I know there's something valuable in here, I'd stake my criminal career on it" the male shadow said.

"What criminal career?" the female shadow said, mockingly.

The male growled and slapped his face as he ordered his female friend to approach the crate. The two burglars ripped off the crate and stared inside, both of them stepped back. The female gasped in obvious disgust.

"What the hell is that, the world's ugliest paperweight?" the female said.

"Whatever it is, it's my ticket to defeating my arch nemesis once and for all" the male said.

"Ugh, you have got to be kidding. That statue is useless Dr. Drakken" the female snapped.

"Silence Shego, I know there's something special about this statue and when I find out what it is. Ha, ha, you'd better watch out KIM POSSIBLE".

----------

THE END?


End file.
